Scars Written On Our Hearts
by Backstroker98
Summary: She saved his life in Prague even when others lost hope that he'd survive. A few months later he saves her life after she was taken prisoner by the ultranationalists. They are each other's guardian angels in a way and she falls for him after being put on his team. Only problem? He's engaged. Soap/OC I DO NOT OWN THE CALL OF DUTY CHARACTERS Rated M for later romance and action.
1. Not a Medic

Military Intelligence Officer Aaron "Cyber" Pager was stationed in the Czech Republic in the city of Prague as a team made their attempt on the assassination of Vladimir Makarov. She stood with her closest friend in the S.A.S, Sergeant Benjamin Hart as they kept lookout on the first floor with the other members of the resistance. "I wouldn't mind visiting Prague when there wasn't a war going on outside." Ben said looking out the window. "It could be a while yet, mate." Cyber told her friend when a frantic voice caught their attention. "We've got wounded!" a British accent filled voice shouted. Cyber and Ben turned towards the door as two other resistance soldiers came rushing in carrying a soldier by his arms and legs as blood flooded out of him.

"Clear the table!" the same man yelled who had a boonie hat on his head… it was Captain Price. Cyber recognized the man on the table as Captain John MacTavish or better known as "Soap". She also saw the one Russian loyalist with them that had apparent background knowledge on Makarov. "Get a medic!" Price screamed. Cyber felt someone push her forward a little. She turned and saw it was Ben. "I'm not a medic!" she said in a loud whisper. "No, but you have your EMT certification!" Ben reminded her. Oh shit, she did. She got it last year after the accident...

Cyber rushed over to the table next to Price as Soap fell flat on the table. She put two fingers on his neck and could feel a weak pulse…a very weak pulse. "He's still alive, but he needs medical attention now!" she told Price as bullets began flying through the window. She grabbed Price and pulled him down towards the ground to avoid the bullets. "We need to get him out of here now!" she yelled as the resistance shot at the Russian soldiers outside.

The pair stood up and Price pulled Soap off the table as his Russian loyalist came around the table to help. Cyber sprinted to the dresser by the door where they stored the medical kits. Inside the drawer were two large medical kits that were always filled with supplies. She grabbed them and then ran back towards Price who was heading down into the sewer that they were able to access from the first level. She rushed down the stairs with the kits as Price laid Soap on the cement ground. Seeing the blood coming out of Soap, Cyber all but sprinted over and kneeled down next to Soap as she set her gun on the ground.

Cyber pulled off Soap's bulletproof vest and then ripped off his grey t-shirt revealing his muscular upper body that was painted with blood. She pulled the fabric away and saw where he was bleeding from. He had a deep tear oh his lower abdomen that was bleeding profusely. She put pressure on it and ordered Price to get the wipes and gauze pads out of the one medical kit. He did and handed them to her. She took her hands off of the wound and put the gauze pads against it before telling Price to keep pressure on it. As he did, she used the antiseptic wipes she used to wipe all the blood away when Soap began to struggle to breathe. She looked up at him and felt around his chest area when he began to turn blue. "What's wrong with him?" the Russian loyalist chimed in. "He must have a collapsed lung!" Cyber said in a shaky voice. "He did fall from a building and hit a few things on the way down." the loyalist said.

"Can you do anything?" Price asked desperately. Cyber looked up at him and then at the medical kit where she began to dig around and pray the kit had what she was looking for…and it did. She pulled out the hollow syringe with the air release cap on it she needed and positioned the needle at his chest when Soap's eye's snapped open and began gasping for air until he stopped breathing all together. "He isn't breathing!" Price said loudly.

"I see that!" Cyber replied as she felt around his chest. Then she jammed the needle through his skin and opened the air release cap causing air to flow out of it that was built up in his lung. Within a few seconds Soap was breathing again. Cyber pulled the needle out as his breathing got back to normal all completely. She set the syringe to the side and then went back to where he was bleeding. "How much blood has he lost?" she asked Price as she pulled out the case to do stitches. "A lot from what I saw." Price informed her.

"Right now I have to stitch him up, I'll worry about getting him more blood later." She replied as she threaded the needle for stitches. She moved Price's hand and began stitching the large tear closed which took over five minutes to complete. Once it was fully stitched she taped a gauze pad over it and wrapped it just to be safe. "Does he have any other major injuries?" Cyber asked Price.

"There could be damage inside." The captain replied.

She checked his pulse and felt like jumping for joy when she felt how much stronger it was than before. "Well he needs blood and that's something I can't do here." she told Price. "So you have an evack?"

"Nikolai where are you?" Price asked through the radio.

"Half a click from your position," a Russian accent replied. "You may want to leave now though, Makarov's men are closing in on the safe house."

This caught Cyber's attention…Ben was up there. "We're leaving now… Soap is in critical condition so be ready to leave when we get there." Price told Nikolai.

"We gotta go." Price said pulling Soap up. "I can't leave, that's my team my up there!" Cyber said sternly closing the medical kit and standing up. "I need you to come with me alright? You are the only medic I have right now." Price informed her. Cyber wanted to tell him that techniquely she wasn't a medic, but now wasn't the time.

"That's my team up there!"

"I know you don't want to leave your team I get that, but I need you right now."

Cyber looked at Price for a few seconds before nodding. She grabbed the medical kits and her gun as Price put Soap over his shoulder and Yuri prepared his gun.

Price carried Soap through the sewers before they reached the exit that led them closest to Nikolai's chopper. "Nikolai, we're at the door, what's it looking like outside?" Price asked his pilot.

"Clear, but you have to hurry my friend!" the Russian responded.

Yuri kicked the door open and the three rushed up the stairs as Price carried Soap over his shoulder up the steep steps. When they got outside they were in an empty pump house that they quickly ran out of and outside. Yuri took point with Cyber next to him and Price behind them.

The three got to the halfway point with no one shooting at them, but that was short lived when the ultranationalists got their trail and unleashed hell on them. Price got Soap to cover and Cyber and Yuri took cover behind a car. Cyber set up on the hood of the car and shot at the group of Russians approaching them. She threw grenade out which helped a decent amount, but they kept coming. "God damn it." She cursed throwing two flash bangs out. The bright flash stunned the Russians and Price, Yuri, and Cyber took this as an opportunity by shooting the back of their skulls out as they ran through them.

They ran up the street to the park where Nikolai landed the helicopter. "I see you my friend, but you must hurry! Makarov's men are gaining on you!" the Russian pilot alerted them over the radio.

"We're almost there!" Price replied. "Just hold on Soap!"

Cyber looked over at Soap as he was slung over Price's shoulders. He opened his eyes a little and she caught a glimpse of his icy blue eyes that didn't have a lot of life in them anymore. She frowned at this just as Yuri went down. Cyber stopped and looked at him to see he took a bullet to the back of his leg. Price turned and Cyber told him to go. "Get Soap to the chopper, I'll get him!" Before Price could respond Cyber rushed back to Yuri and put his arm around her shoulders to pull him up. "Come on!" she half-yelled as she got him on his feet and fired at the Russians coming towards them.

Once he was up she pulled him along towards the chopper as bullets whizzed by their heads. She was able to get Yuri to the chopper safely and helped him get in before allowing Price to get her in. She grabbed his strong hand and he pulled her into the helicopter right as Nikolai got the blades spinning. Then it was only a matter of seconds until they were in the air.


	2. Blood Angel

On the helicopter Cyber moved next to Soap and checked his pulse that was weakening and his skin began to get paler and paler. "He needs blood." She told Price as she looked at Soap's dog tags. "O-Positive." She said to herself. That meant he could only receive O-Positive or O-Negative blood. She stood up and looked in the medical compartment where she found empty blood bags and needles with all the medical kits. Moving as fast as she possibly could, she pulled the bags and needles out and sat next to Soap.

"What are you doing?" Price asked as she rolled her sleeve up.

"If he doesn't get blood now he's gonna die." Cyber told the captain as she tied a band around her arm. "He's an O-Positive blood type which means he can receive O-Negative which is what I have."

Cyber hooked up the blood bag tubing to the needle, slid it under the skin of her arm, and taped it down. "I need you to hold this up." she told Price holding out the blood bag. He stood up and took the bag from her, holding it up in the air. Then Cyber released her grip on the needle, allowing the blood to flow out of her arm, through the tube, and into the bag.

The bag held one pint of blood that filled in eight minutes which was still too long since Soap was about to die. Once the bag was filled, Cyber told Price to cap the bottom of the bag before she took the needle out of her arm. Then she put a clean one in Soap's forearm and then hooked up the tubing to it, allowing the blood to flow down into his arm and through his veins.

Nikolai was flying the team to Romania since it was practically untouched by the chaos of the war. The flight was about two hours long and in that time Cyber gave three pints of blood to Soap which was extremely dangerous on her part. After her third pint, she had to stop because anymore and it could kill her. But all that blood helped Soap an extreme amount in the long run. His skin was less pale and returning to his normal complexion plus his heart rate was where it should be.

Once Soap got the blood he needed, Cyber focused her attention of Yuri who has been holding gauze pads against his bullet wound on his thigh. She told him to move his hand so she could look at it. When he did she saw it wasn't too serious and was only a little more serious than a flesh wound. Now moving slower than before, she wiped all the blood away and cleaned it before stitching it closed. Then she put a bandage over it so it wouldn't get infected. By the time she was done, Nikolai was approaching the safe house.

He landed the helicopter and a medic rushed out with a gurney that he loaded Soap on so he could get him inside. Price helped Cyber out of the chopper as she began stumbling over her own feet, but when her feet touched the ground her legs went out from under her. Luckily Price was able to catch her as she fell. "I'm alright…" she said tiredly. "No you're not." Price told her as he picked her up off the ground. "I told you you were giving too much blood."

"I didn't have a choice…" she argued. "He would have died…"

Price carried Cyber into the safe house much to her embarrassment because she felt weak that someone had to help her. She couldn't even walk on her own? Pitiful. Losing three pints of blood or not, she didn't want someone to help her. She would have told Price to put her down and let her walk on her own, but she couldn't seem to find the energy.

Price carried the girl who saved his closest friend's life to a room where she could lie down as the medics examined Soap who was still unconscious. He reached the room and carefully laid the girl on the bed as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Get some rest." He told the girl as he stepped back from the bed. "Thank you…" she breathed out before passing out altogether. Price walked out of the room and told the one medic about the girl he didn't even know the name of despite what she did for Soap. "She gave a lot of blood and isn't looking good." He told the medic. "You should make sure she's okay." The medic nodded and went to Cyber's room.

It was an hour and a half before a doctor came out of Soap's room, causing Price's heart to beat faster. "How is he?" the captain asked nervously. The doctor pulled down his mask, revealing a smile. "He's asleep, but he'll going to be okay." he told the captain. "He has a collapsed lung, two fractured ribs along with three other bruised ones and a broken one. He also has a concussion and some minor cuts and bruises, but his gear protected him from anything worse from happening."

"How long will it take for a recovery?" Price asked.

"The rib injuries should take about six weeks to heal completely, but we are treating his collapsed lung with a chest tube to let all the air out…that should only take a couple of days. From what you told us he lost a lot of blood. Based on what you told us, he lost half of his blood so if we took those three pints out of the equation he wouldn't have survived."

Price let the words sink in. "What about the girl?" he finally said. "She gave Soap the blood."

"Well she gave too much blood at one time which was definitely unsafe and she could have suffered a lot worse, but we managed to give her some blood back so she should be fine. But what made it worse for her was that she was low blood sugar apparently which made things worse on her part."

"She's diabetic? Isn't it unsafe to give diabetic blood?"

"Yes, but she isn't diabetic. You can have low blood sugar, but it could be for a number of reasons… she has a minor case that just requires her to have a little extra sugar in her diet. No big deal."

Just then a medic came out of Cyber's room. "She's awake." The blonde haired man said. The doctor looked at Price. "If that young lady hadn't done what she did, your friend would have died in Prague." He informed the captain before walking to another room.

Cyber was basically blinded by the lights in the room. She put a hand to her head and closed her eyes when she noticed she was hooked up to an IV. "What in the hell…?" she said sitting up when the door opened and Price walked in. "Hi…" he greeted closing the door behind him.

"Hi," Cyber responded.

Price finally took the time to look at the girl to take in her features. She had a pair of light brown eyes that had a shine in them that matched her chestnut brown hair that had highlights in them. Her skin was slightly pale and freckles dotted her cheeks on both sides of her face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked walking over to her bed side and sitting down. She let out a breath. "Like I got hit by a bus." She answered. Price chuckled a little. "I want to thank you for what you did today." He said. "Soap would've died had you not done what you did."

"No thank you needed, sir." Cyber told him.

"What's your name?" Price asked.

"Aaron Pager or better known as Cyber."

"I've heard of you," Price said. "You're military intelligence. You hacked into the Russian's database and extracted all sorts of information on the ultranationalists."

"That's how I got the name Cyber. I have been hacking into electronics since ninth grade and can get into almost any computer."

"That's very impressive." Price complimented.

"Thank you." Just then Cyber remembered her team back in Prague. "My team!" she said worriedly. "Did they get out of Prague?"

"Yes, there were some casualties and injuries, but almost everyone got out." Price informed her. Cyber's stomach dropped… almost everyone? What about Ben? "Who were the casualties?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I contacted you're field commander and he said there were a total of fifteen casualties of your forty."

"Was Ben Hart killed?"

"I don't know, he just gave me the numbers." Price explained

"I have to get back to them…" Cyber pushed the blanket off of her and went to take the IV out, but Price stopped her. "I will get you back to your team." He told her. "But you need time to rest. I promise you can leave as soon as you're strong enough."

Cyber leaned back on the bed. "Okay…" she agreed half-heartedly. "Is your man okay?"

"He's pretty beat up, but he'll make a full recovery in a few weeks." Price answered. Just then Price remembered what Soap told him before he blacked out. _"Makarov…knows…Yuri…" _Soap's voice echoed in his head. "I have to go take care of something." Price told Cyber as he stood up. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Cyber gave him a nod as he left the as he left the room.

Yuri sat out in the hall with his head against the wall with his eyes closed feeling the guilt begin to eat him. He should have told them about his history with Makarov sooner because now he felt guilty about Soap's near death and more importantly about that girl nearly giving her life to save Soap. The Russian was lost in thought when a strong force pulled him up from his chair by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"You better start talking!" a very angry Price growled. "Soap trusted you, I thought I could too so why in bloody hell does Makarov know you?!"

Then Yuri explained everything. He explained that he was "young and patriotic" when he first met Makarov and join the ultranationalist party in the 1990's. He told Price about how he and Makarov saved Zakhaev's life after he was shot during an arms deal in the Ukraine in 1996. He was there in Middle East with Makarov when the nuclear explosion went off that killed thirty thousand U.S Marines. Yuri explained that this made him uneasy about Makarov and the ultranationalist party as a whole.

"When I learned of Makarov's plans that took place at the Zakhaev's International Airport, I tried to stop it, but Makarov found out what about by betrayal to him. He shot me in the downstairs parking lot and left me for dead. But I gathered enough strength to get into the elevator and I went after him, but it was useless. I blacked out before I could reach him."

Price took in all the information in and released the Russian. "Okay Yuri, you've bought yourself some time...for now."


	3. Short Hello and Fast Good-Bye

Soap awoke the next morning feeling groggy and like someone hit him in the head with a metal baseball bat thirty times. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the light in his room which made him squeeze his eyes closed again. He was laid down on his side so his body because of the chest tube so he was facing the wall and saw Price asleep in the chair next to his bed. According to the clock it was a little after seven in the morning. "Price?" Soap croaked. His captain's eyes snapped open and looked at him. "Hey son," he greeted sitting up and leaning over. "How do you feel?"

"Awful…" Soap answered. "What the hell happened?"

"You got blown up." Price answered. "Then you suffered a pretty nasty fall from the top of the church."

It all came back to him in that moment….taking out the Russian guards in the hotel, Kamarov getting blown up, and the bomb in the church that went off. Then Soap remembered what Makarov said to Yuri. _"Yuri, my friend…you should never have come here." _ The Russian's voice echoed in his head.

"You have some pretty bad damage to your ribs from the fall so it'll be a few weeks until you recover." Price chimed in, breaking Soap's thoughts.

"Makarov, he knows Yuri." Soap said sternly. "How the hell is that possible? What didn't he tell us?!"

"Calm down, son." Price said, putting a hand on Soap's shoulder. "Yuri told me his history with Makarov yesterday. Long story short, he was with the ultranationalists before, but he backed out after the nuclear bomb went off in the Middle East that Makarov set off under Al-Asad's orders. Soap, Yuri tried to stop the massacre at the airport but Makarov gunned him down once he found out Yuri was betraying him. That's why Yuri's got a bone to pick with him."

Soap relaxed a little bit. "He still should have told us from the start." He said.

"I know, but he has his own reasons for wanting Makarov dead and he knows more about Makarov than anyone else." Price reasoned as Soap looked down at his chest tube. "What the hell is that for?" he asked.

"Your lung collapsed." Price informed him. "You should be dead in retrospect."

"How'd you get me out of there? And where are we?"

"Romania. And at the resistance safe house one of the soldiers was able to save your life. She helped treat your collapsed lung when you stopped breathing, stitched your wounds, and gave you three pints of blood on the way here."

"Is she still here?" Soap asked.

"Yeah, she's sleeping yet."

Soap looked down at his chest tube again and then at his wrapped ribs when the knife wound that Shepherd gave him caught his attention. "How do you suppose I explain that one to Jen?" Soap asked Price looking back at his captain. "Wouldn't be the first time you had to tell your fiancé how you got your scars." Price reminded Soap who smiled at the thought of his fiancé proposed to last year.

Jen was a school teacher back in Glasgow who had a pair of hazel eyes and long blonde hair that matched her slightly pale skin. Soap met her after she spilled coffee on him in a coffee shop while he was visiting his parents on a leave. A cup of coffee later the two made a date to see each other again and the rest is history. Jen constantly worried about her fiancé who was constantly deployed for several months at a time during the year and constantly prayed for his safe return home. The last time she saw him was seven months ago.

Coming back into present time, a medic came into Soap's room. "Good to see you awake Captain." The female medic said. "I'll send someone in to check on you, but Captain Price the girl you came here with just woke up."

"Thank you." Price said. The woman walked out with a smile and the captain turned back to his protégée. "Do you want to meet the person who saved your life?" he asked. Soap nodded. "Definitely."

In her room, Cyber got out of bed and pulled on her boots, lacing them all the way up before pulling her hair out of her ponytail, allowing her long brown hair t flow past her shoulders. She ran her fingers through it before tucking it behind her ears and calling it decent. After that she pulled on her jacket and walked towards the door when someone walked in. It was Price.

"Morning Aaron." He greeted. Cyber stiffened. No one really ever called her by her first name. "Good morning Captain." She replied.

"How do you feel?"

"A lot better…almost refreshed."

"Good to hear. I arranged for you to be flown back to your base later this morning."

"Thank you so much." Cyber said appreciatively. "Soap's awake if you care to see him now." Price informed her.

"Of course!" she replied walking towards the door. Price led her out and down the hall to Soap's room.

Soap heard the door opened and looked over at it as Price walked in. Shortly after he entered someone else walked in behind him. She had long brown hair with highlights that was knotty and tangled with a pair of warm brown eyes that had bags under them which made him think she was still tired. Her skin was slightly pale and small dots freckled her cheeks. Her body was slim, but had curves to it that fit her perfectly.

"Soap this is Aaron." Price introduced her as they walked in. "She acted as a medic for you yesterday."

Cyber walked over to him. "Good to see you alive, Captain." She said. "Thank you for saving me." Soap replied. "I was told you gave me a lot of blood and stitched me up."

"Just did what I had to."

"Well I am extremely grateful for what you did. I don't think I could ever repay you."

"No need to. I am just glad you were able to pull through."

Soap gave her a warm half smile which she returned as Nikolai walked in. "Good to see you awake and alive my friend." The Russian greeted.

"Good to be alive Nikolai." Soap replied.

Nikolai then noticed Cyber next to Soap's bed. "And who might this lovely lady be?" he asked.

"Aaron Pager." Cyber introduced herself.

"Ah you are the young woman that I will have the pleasure of escorting back to Hungary."

"That's me."

"Well I just refueled my chopper so she's ready to go now if you need to get back to your base right away."

"That would be great!" Aaron said happily. She looked at Price. "It was nice meeting you." The captain said extending his hand. She shook it. "Honor was all mine." she replied before turning back to Soap. "Feel better." She told him. "It was nice meeting you."

"Pleasure was all mine." Soap replied holding out his free arm to shake her hand. She took his hand in his, the two hands fitting perfectly in one another's. Cyber smiled and shook his hand before turning back towards Nikolai. "Ready my lady?" he asked. She nodded her head. "It was nice meeting the both of you." She said to Price and Soap.

"Thank you again Aaron." Soap said. She gave him a warm smile and nod before walking out of the room with Nikolai. Price walked over to Soap's bedside and sat down. "She's something else." Price said.

"You knew her for a day." Soap pointed out.

"But I am an excellent judge of character." Price replied causing Soap to smirk.


	4. Firewall Issues

Cyber slept most of the way back to Hungary where she would be reunited with her team…and Ben, her best friend that she has known since she enlisted. He was Irish and had short black hair with a pair of grey eyes that Cyber loved more than anything. He was muscular of course from being in the military which made him very attractive. Ben was the only guy who didn't give Cyber any bullshit about being the only woman around. The last team they were on the teasing never seemed to stop and Ben actually ended kicking the crap out of the one sergeant when he crossed the line by lifting up Cyber's shirt in front of the other men.

As the helicopter landed at the very small base in Hungary, Cyber thanked Nikolai for the lift and stepped off the chopper. "No problem my lovely! Hope to see you again in the future!" the Russian called out. Cyber waved to him as he lifted off the ground and eventually flew off into the sky. She smiled before being greeted by Captain Johnston, her commander. "Cyber, good to see you in one piece." He said throwing an arm across her shoulders and led her towards the buildings. "Captain Price called me and told me what you did for Captain MacTavish. I'm glad I get to say you're my soldier."

"Thanks Johnston." Cyber said. "Is Ben alright?"

"He's in his room." Her captain told her. "He got hit with some shrapnel from an explosion in Prague, but he's fine."

"Mind if I go see him before I get back to work?"

"Not a problem at all. Hurry up though, there's a database I need you to hack into."

"Aaaannnd I'm home." She said sarcastically causing her commander to chuckle.

Ben was lying in bed with his radio on and his eyes closed when a knock sounded on his door sounded. "Do not enter." He said. The door opened. "God damn it who can't-" he began as he opened his eyes to see his closest friend in the doorway. "Good to see you too." Cyber said with a smile. Ben's face broke out in a grin as he jumped off the bed and ran over to Cyber. She opened her arms and he wrapped his around her, picking her up off her feet and spinning her around as her arms locked around her neck.

"Oh my God you scared the shit out of me!" Ben said into her shirt before setting her down and looking at her face. Cyber immediately noticed the cuts on Ben's face and frowned which he quickly noticed. "Nothing serious." He assured her. "What happened after you left the safe house?"

"We got MacTavish to the chopper on the other side of town by running through the sewers. On the helicopter I had to give him three pints of blood to keep him alive until we got to the safe house in Romania." Cyber informed him.

"Man my best friend is awesome, but incredibly stupid." Ben snapped. "Three pints? You could have killed yourself."

"Sorry but hey…I lived and so did MacTavish."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I gotta go crack some software for Johnston. See you later?"

"Of course." Cyber smiled and placed a kiss on Ben's cheek before taking off out of his room and out of the building.

**TWO HOURS LATER**

Cyber sat in front of the computer completely lost in all the numbers and equations as she attempted to get through the firewall and into the database she was trying to get into, but she couldn't. She took the reading glasses off her face and set them on the desk before running a hand through her hair and putting her face in her palm. "I hate Russia…" she complained to herself as she picked her head up and the door swung open, causing her to jump.

"Calm down it's only me." a familiar Irish accent said. Cyber turned and smiled at Ben. "Any luck?" he asked sitting next to her. "No, I can't get through this damn firewall." She told him causing him to chuckle. "What?" she demanded.

"British people just sound funny when they're angry." He chuckled. Cyber smiled. "Look I already accessed their system using the codes we got at the safe house we infiltrated last week, but the firewall itself is all code which has to be rewritten to bypass which isn't working well right now…"

"I have no idea what you just said." Ben joked. Cyber rolled her eyes. "Come on I gave you the name Cyber for a reason so think." Ben said.

"You know I would love to see you try to do-" Cyber began but stopped mid-sentence when a light bulb went on. She turned back towards the computer and began typing furiously on the computer, entering codes and passwords for thirty seconds before the firewall was finally down. "Yes!" she said happily. "I'm in. I now have access to the full database."

"See? Sometimes you just need me around." Ben teased. After another roll of her eyes, Cyber called Johnston to come over. "I broke through the firewall." She informed him.

"Good job, I'll be over shortly." He replied before hanging up.

A few minutes later, Johnston arrived and stood with Cyber as she went through the database that was filled with the location of a small base in Bulgaria. "Apparently this is the place that Makarov is storing his shipments. It doesn't say what's in them, but I figured they are important if Makarov needed to put them in a spot unaffected by the war." Cyber informed her captain.

"Alright, I'll send you and a team in tomorrow morning so get some rest." Her commander responded.

"Yes sir." Cyber said before leaving with Ben to go get some dinner at the mess hall.

After dinner, Ben and Cyber went back to their rooms to go to bed since they had a mission first thing tomorrow. In her room, Cyber went over to her satellite phone and dialed the number she's been dialing one a month since she enlisted five years ago. The phone on the other line rang three times before it went to the same voicemail. Discouraged and upset, Cyber hung up and slammed the phone down on her dresser. She's gotten the voicemail every time she called.


	5. Useless

Back in Romania the next morning, Soap got his chest tube taken out so he was able to lie on his back again, but his ribs were still wrapped up with a heating pad against them. "How much longer until I can get out of here?" he asked Price. "It'll be a few weeks yet. Probably six weeks at the very least." Price replied.

"I can't just lay in a bed for six weeks!" Soap said in an annoyed tone.

"If you don't let your injuries heal properly they could get worse which means you'll be out longer." Price snapped back. Soap leaned back against his pillow. "Fine…" he breathed out. "What's the status on Makarov?"

"Yuri knows of a place back in Prague, an old castle that Makarov used to cache weapons." Price informed Soap.

"You trust him?" Soap questioned a little sternly.

"We don't have a choice. He has his own reasons for wanting Makarov dead."

"Will Makarov be there?"

"Right in the control room."

"When do you plan on going?"

"Tonight."

Soap stiffened a little at hearing this...they were going out without him. But that isn't what bothered him. What bothered him was while Price and Yuri were out fighting he would be lying in a bed with wrapped ribs. He hated that feeling of being useless and the fact that he couldn't do anything about his injuries which made everything worse. He couldn't even get out of bed because every move he made felt like someone was just snapping his ribs in half.

"Just rest for now." Price said standing up. "You'll be back on your feet in no time."

Soap just sighed and let his mind wander to Jen. He could already imagine her walking down the aisle in a beautiful white gown with her father next to her. He could see himself smiling with his hands together as he awaited his beautiful bride at the altar. The thoughts made Soap smile as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

In Bulgaria, things weren't going well for Cyber and her team. They infiltrated the Russian base and she was now in the control room sending files to Johnston regarding the shipment information of what Makarov was having delivered and where it was going.

"Cyber hurry up! I don't know how much longer we can hold off the Russians!" Ben yelled over the gunfire from outside as he and the other team members held the Russians off.

"I just need a minute!" she called out to him as the last files began being sent.

"We don't have a minute!"

Then the rest of the files sent and Cyber smiled, but it quickly faded when she realized she'd have to delete the history of the sent files. She typed in more letters and clicked things on the screen that would erase the memory. Once she saw everything was erased she grabbed her gun and ran outside. "It's done, let's get the hell out of here!" she yelled.

"Williams get to the LZ, we need to get out of here now!" the field commander yelled over the gunfire through the radio as the team moved to leave the base and head towards the LZ.

"Two minutes out. Be ready when I get there!" Williams replied.

"Noted!"

Getting off the base was easier than expected and when they breached the woods they were in the clear to the LZ. "What did you send Johnston?" Ben asked as they ran to the LZ. "Better question is what didn't send him?" Cyber replied. "Shipment dates, locations, times, what's being shipped, basically everything."

They approached the LZ and boarded the helicopter quickly as the Russian approached. Williams got the bird in the air and began flying away from the base. Cyber put her head against the wall and let out a breath. Ben sat next to her and set his gun down before pulling an energy bar out of the overhead bin. "I don't need you passing out." He teased handing her the snack. She smiled and accepted it, unwrapping it and taking a bite. Then a loud beeping began to sound. "RPG!" the pilot yelled seconds before the rocket propelled grenade hit the helicopter's tail, destroying it almost completely causing the chopper to lose altitude and begin to fall to the ground.

"We're going down!" the pilot yelled. "Grab onto something!"

Ben put his arm around Cyber, pulling him close to her and grabbed handlebars above them as the helicopter spun out of control, hitting a tree limb and crashing onto the ground.

Short chapter, a little rushed, and kind of crappy so I really do apologize but I haven't been feeling the greatest these past few days and school starts TOMORROW so I have been pretty preoccupied. Next chapter will be better, pinky promise


	6. POW

Cyber opened her eyes and was greeted by blurry vision showing grass, tress, broken helicopter, and a few unconscious bodies around her including Ben's a few feet in front of her. She began pulling herself through the grass to get to him, but pain shot up through her left arm making her stop moving. As she dropped her head onto the ground again, voices accented with Russian and footsteps caught her attention, but it hurt to try to move around. Suddenly a masked face came around in front of her and looked at her for a moment. "Этот живой!" he called out before walking to her side. Then two pairs of strong hands lifted her up by her arms and began dragging her away from the wreck as she fell completely unconscious.

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER**

Cyber jolted awake as a bucket of cold water was thrown on her to snap her eyes open and gasp for air. Once she began to calm down a little, she took in all her surroundings. She was tied to a chair for one and was in an empty room with black walls that had a small window on the right side, allowing some light to come in. The floor was a grey cement floor and there was a small table a few feet to the right of Cyber. Her gear was gone, leaving her in only a black long sleeved shirt, grey army pants, and black combat boots."Why hello there," a Russian voice said. "You're awake."

Looking up, Cyber came face to face with a six foot tall man with a black and grey beard who was dressed in a Russian army uniform. He had black and grey hair and greenish-brown eyes that were quite awful looking in Cyber's opinion. "Where I am?" she asked as she began shivering from the cold air and water that was thrown on her.

"I will tell you where you are if you tell me what information you gave your people." The Russian officer negotiated.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cyber lied. Right after she said that the man raised his hand and sent a hard slap across Cyber's face. Her body went with is and a stinging sensation spread across her face. "Let's try that again." He growled. "What. Did. You. Give. Them?"

"I gave them some very useful and resourceful information that they could definitely use." Cyber said resulting in another hard slap, a small cut now on her face. "You aren't gonna get anything from me if you keep slapping me." she said with a smile looking at him. The Russian fake laughed before pulling out a combat knife and jamming it into her thigh. She cried out in pain before accepting and getting used to the feeling in a matter of seconds. The Russian pulled it out of her leg and wiped the blood on her shirt.

"How about now?" he asked.

"How do you know I even know anything?" Cyber replied.

"Hm." The Russian sounded. "Принесите одного из них в!"

A few seconds later two of the Russian's soldiers came in dragging one of Cyber's team mates by the arms with his hands tied behind his face. There were a few tears in his clothes probably from the crash as well as a thick stream of blood going down the side of his face. Cyber knew him. His name was Jared Temple. Nice guy with a pretty wife named Taylor and a little boy named Alex who just turned eight last month who looks a lot like Jared.

"Let's see if this works." The Russian said going behind Jared and holding his head up by his hair with the knife against his throat. "Tell me what you sent them and he lives." Jared looked at Cyber. "Don't." he said. "It's the only other information they'll have against them. It's everything we'll have."

"I can't let them kill you…" Cyber choked out. Jared looked at her with hurt eyes. "It's okay…" he said. Cyber shook her head and looked at the Russian holding the knife to Jared's throat. "You kill him you'll never know." She said. The Russian shrugged. "There are eighteen other men out there, you'll eventually break." He said as he slid the knife across Jared's throat. "Jared!" Cyber cried as the Russian's dropped his dead body to the ground. He coughed and sputtered words out that Cyber tried to make out. "Tell Taylor and Alex I love them…" he gagged before his body went limp and his pupils got smaller and smaller.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Cyber yelled, holding back tears. The Russian motioned for the other two soldiers to leave and he went over to her. "What did you send them? Simple question." He said. Cyber thought about her team that were probably in the next room or across the hall and she she wasn't risking any more of them dying.

"You're gonna have to beat it out of me." she said to the Russian, mentally preparing for the beating she was about to get.

"So be it." the Russian said as he took a step back and began delivering hard punches to the side of her face and kicks to her stomach and legs for what seems forever. Somewhere during it all she passed out from the trauma and into an empty pit of darkness which was better than being awake at the moment.

**TWENTY MINUTES LATER**

Waking up has never been so hard. The floor was cold and everything was so incredibly sore and in pain. "Come on Aaron wake up…" a familiar Irish voice said. She opened her eyes and everything was blurry until she straightened her vision out to find Ben next to her. "There you go come on wake up." he motivated her.

Ben moved back so he could roll Aaron onto her back and saw her face was bruised badly on the right side mainly, but also the left. There were also cuts on her eyebrows and cheeks as well as blood covering her thigh and a swollen, bloody lip. "What's going on?" she groaned through the pain.

"You got tied to a chair and beat." Ben told her sitting back and grabbing the cup of water and small amount of food he was given. "Come on your blood sugar is probably low by now, you need to eat something."

Ben put his hand on the back of Cyber's head and lifted it up to give her a sip of water. She managed to, but couldn't keep her head up long. She tried looking around and saw she was in a small cell with Ben and another soldier who was fast asleep in the corner with a bloody arm and torn shirt. It was too dark to see his face, but she could make out light colored hair.

She looked back at Ben and saw a cut on his forehead and blood on his right shoulder along with a few tears in his shirt. "Are you okay?" she asked, slowly coming back to a state of mind.

"You're seriously asking me that question?" he teased trying to lighten the mood. Cyber smiled and opened her eyes completely. "Alright now eat something; I don't need you having a seizure in here." Ben said picking up the small dish of food containing God knows what food. She sat up on her forearms and took the dish from him, not hesitating to dig in. If her blood sugar got too low she would go into a seizure and her heart was already beating faster than normal and her hands were trembling which were warning signs.

As she ate Ben watched her as she devoured the whole dish in a matter of seconds. "Where are we?" she asked after she finished the disgusting food. "Russia by the sound of it." Ben answered. "They brought us here after they shot us down. What do they want?"

"To know what information we sent over to the base." Cyber answered.

"Did you tell them anything?"

"No, but I should have…they killed Jared."

"I know I saw them dragging his body out when they opened the door to bring you in."

"I should have given them something, Jared's dead and it's my fault."

"No it's not." Ben said. "Don't say that."

Cyber put a hand on her neck. "I feel like it is."

"Look it's late. Try to sleep while you can, God knows what's going on tomorrow." Ben said helping her up to her feet. "There are some blankets over here. It's Russia so it's cold if you haven't noticed yet so don't feel hesitate to cuddle close to me." Ben teased as they walked to the other side of the cell.

"You know for someone who's gay, you flirt a lot." Cyber pointed out picking up a blanket. Ben smirked. "I feel like I would offend you if I didn't occasionally hit on you." He joked, drawing a smile out of Cyber.

The two laid down near the other soldier and Cyber did lay close to Ben since she felt safe closer to him and already began praying to get out of this hell hole that was a prisoner of war camp.


	7. Torture

Soap was lying in bed with darkness surrounding him and the thoughts of Price infiltrating his mind. He and Yuri left a few hours ago and here he was lying in bed hooked up to heart monitors and a feeding tube…again. He started to think about Jen and how he had her to go home to in Scotland. A small smile formed on his face when he thought about her and the wedding. The thought of the wedding made him think of his parents and older brother that were back in Glasgow as well who were probably worried about him beyond words could describe.

Different things came to Soap's mind as he let them wander away from Price when the girl who saved his life came to mind….Aaron. He could vaguely remember bits and pieces of what was going on after his fall while Yuri and Price got him to the safe house. After he got on the table he blacked out for a while, but could distinctively remember when he was being carried, Aaron came into his sights as she ran alongside him. He could remember the skin on her face had traces of dirt everywhere, but her light brown eyes shined as the light hit them.

As the wounded soldier looked back on the memory, the sound of a helicopter caught his attention. They were back. Soap was still edgy about Yuri, but if Price could trust him then Soap could too.

He could hear the helicopter land and people entering the building followed by footsteps coming towards his room. The door opened and Soap could smell dirt and sweat which made him think it was Price. "I know you're still up Soap." A British accent said. Soap sat up in bed as Price turned the light on and walked over. "Find anything?" Soap asked as Price sat down.

"We found where Makarov has the Russian president." Price informed his protégée. "The bastard has him and the daughter at a mining facility in Russia. I'm calling in the Delta Force on this one. We'll go in a few days."

"How'd the mission?"

"It went better than I expected."

Soap sat back a little at hearing this. "Don't worry son, just a few weeks until you're back on your feet." Price told him. Soap half smiled and Price stood up. "I'll see you in the morning." He said walking out. Feeling a sense of security and relief knowing Price was alright and they were closer to finding Makarov, Soap was finally able to drift off to sleep.

_**RUSSIA**_

The next morning, Cyber was shaken awake by Ben. "Aaron…" his voice said. "Aaron wake up." he said. She opened her eyes and found Ben and the other soldier who she recognized as Dylan Lester. Ben helped her to her feet and they looked at the door as Russian voices came down the hall. "What are they saying?" Ben asked Cyber. (Being military intelligence, Cyber was fluent in several languages including Russian, but still had poor aim with a fire arm)

"They're coming for some of us." Cyber reported. "No specifics, but they are coming for some of us." Cyber continued to listen and died a little inside when she heard one of the Russians say "don't forget the girl". She hurt all over from yesterday's beating and didn't think she could handle another one.

The door to the three's cell opened and a Russian soldier appeared. "You!" the soldier barked at Cyber. "Over here!" Cyber looked at Ben who looked at her with hurt eyes as she walked towards the soldier. He grabbed her arms tightly and then led her down the dark hallway.

The Russian soldier led her to a large room with a metal table in the center and buckets of water next to it. The Russian from the day before that beat Cyber stood by the table as well with a stern face. The soldier pushed Cyber into the room to the Russian general as he asked his question. "Tell me what I your people have on Makarov and I will not hurt you." He said.

"No way…" Cyber replied. The man jerked his head to the side as a signal to his soldiers. Two walked over to her and grabbed ahold of her, lifting her up onto the table. She struggled against them as they tied her arms to the table as well as her legs. Then she felt someone put a towel over her face. She knew what was going to happen the second she saw the buckets of water…

As soon as the restraints were tied and the towel was placed over her face, the Russian poured water over Cyber's covered her face making it unable for her to breathe. She tried to gasp for breath, but the water kept coming. It felt like she was drowning again. Just like last year after the accident...

Once the twenty seconds were finally over, the towel came off of Cyber's face and the water stopped. Someone picked her head up and she coughed and gasped for air before she began to throw up all the water. "Ready to tell me yet?" the Russian questioned. Cyber just continued coughing, gasping for air, and regurgitating water. The person holding her head dropped it and the towel went back on her face before more water came down on her face.

After the third time, Cyber was finally untied and picked up off the table. She was shivering like crazy from the water being thrown on her mixed with the cold Russian air. The Russian Cyber assumed was some kind of general grabbed her face and made her look at him. "Tell me what they have on Makarov!" he yelled. Cyber just shook her head.

She was taken from the waterboarding room and taken to a smaller cell than the one she was in before and had her hands and feet tied together tightly with rope. Then a bag was placed over her head and she was thrown into the cell. She heard the door close loudly and then locked, leaving her in solitary confinement.

_**PRAGUE**_

Within a week, Soap was able to get out of bed and make an attempt to walk around but broken/bruised/fractured ribs freakin' hurt! He would walk around his room for a few minutes before having to lay back down. Price and Yuri successfully rescued the Russian president, but lost the entire Delta Force at the extraction much to Price's attempts to get back to them.

Soap began having conversations with Yuri again and realized he wasn't all that bad after hearing the whole story. He still questioned whether he could trust him or not again, but Yuri was all they had.

_**RUSSIA**_

Seven days. That's how long Cyber was left in the tiny cell tied up with a bag over her head. She was starving and parched from the little food and water she was receiving daily which was just enough to keep her blood sugar up. Finally the door reopened and someone pulled the bag off of her head, revealing her pale and tired face. "Time's up." the Russian said pulling her up and out of the cell.

Never in her whole life was Cyber so happy to see Ben. The Russian threw her into the small cell with Ben who ran over to her and took her in his arms. "Oh my God I thought you were dead!" he said in a loud whisper. "No, just locked up in a cell." She replied with a shiver. Ben let go of her and looked at her face. The injuries from her beating went down, but she looked fragile. Like one fall or too hard of a hug could break her.

Cyber looked around and saw Dylan wasn't there. "Where's Dylan?" she asked. Ben gave her a sad look. "They took him about two days ago…I don't know." He said. Using her hair tie in her pocket, Aaron tied her tangly hair back into a bun and looked at Ben. His face was pretty bruised and he had a few cuts in his arm…his hair was a mess, his skin was pale, and bags were under his eyes. She assumed she looked as bad as he did.

"They want to know what they now have on Makarov." She sighed.

"I know." Ben said pointing at his face. "I already got some interrogations."

"What if Johnston already took advantage of the information we sent? Why keep us here then?"

"Aaron you sent them everything on that computer. There was probably a lot more than just some shipment details."

"There was…" Cyber confirmed. Ben cocked his head. "What else was on their?" he asked.

"Every detail about Makarov." Cyber answered. "Where all his safe houses are, where he gets his weapons, everything."

"They aren't going to let us go until we give them everything…" Ben said. Cyber shook her head. "We should just pray that either the war ends or Makarov gets killed soon." She told Ben.


	8. Hopeful Debt

_**THREE MONTHS LATER (JANUARY)**_

Soap stood in front of the mirror hat was on his bathroom wall. His ribs were completely healed now and he regained all the muscle he lost while being bedridden. He re-cut his hair so he had his Mohawk back and his face had a clean shave. Soap smiled at seeing his old self. Now he was going on his first mission since Prague with Price and Yuri to the Hotel Oasis in Arabian Peninsula where Makarov was. What excited him the most was that after they came back, he would be given a two week leave back to Scotland. He was worried about how everyone would react to seeing him after so long. It's been almost a year since he last saw his family and Jen in person, but he was able to contact his parents once since they were now longer disavowed. He kept replaying the excitement and happiness in their voice for weeks. Unfortunately he hasn't talked to Jen yet, but he planned on surprising her with his return home.

Late one afternoon, Soap stood with Price in the communications room talking to Captain Johnston about the intel he had. "It's good to hear from you again Johnston." Price said referring to when he contacted Johnston about Aaron and what happened with her in Prague. "How's Aaron been?" Price asked out of curiosity. Johnston let out a sad breath, causing Soap and Price to look up from their papers and at the screen. "Three months ago I sent Aaron and a team to Bulgaria where Makarov had a base set up. He had all the information there on weapon shipments, deliveries, locations, all sort of things we could use against him. The team's helicopter was shot down while they were leaving and they haven't been seen since. There weren't any bodies so we've classified the team as MIA and possible POWs." Johnston explained to Price.

"Do you have any leads on where they could be?" Price asked, leaning forward.

"There are dozens if not hundreds of places they could be. I've sent teams to over thirty locations with no luck…." Johnston told Price with a sad expression. Soap sat down in the chair next to Price. Was she really gone? The girl who saved his life three months ago was gone just like that? He only talked to her one time…

"I'm sorry to hear that." Price sympathized. "I can imagine how hard that must be."

"With the war over we were all hoping that if they were imprisoned that they would be let go, but it doesn't look like that's happening…" Johnston added.

"Aaron was a remarkable woman and I am sure so was the rest of her team."

"Thank you, Price. They were very remarkable. If you'll excuse me I have a plane full of recruits landing I have to get to."

"Of course." Price replied. With that said Johnston signed off leaving Soap and Price in silence.

Soap thought about Aaron. She never spoke a single word to him before his accident and she still put her life on the line for him back there. He owed a debt to her and now it was time to repay it. "We have to find her." He finally said to Price.

"I knew you were going to say that…" Price sighed.

"What you don't agree with me?"

"Soap I know she saved your life, but we have bigger priorities right now."

"And I'm not saying we ignore those priorities." Soap said, raising his voice a little. "Once we get Makarov we look for Aaron and her team."

"Soap how do you know she's not already dead?" Price questioned. "How do you know they didn't just take them to some camp, torture them, kill them, and then burn the bodies?"

"I believed you were dead for a while, but turns out you were just locked up in that Gulag."

"That was different." Price defended. "Makarov locked me up for a reason."

"And maybe something happened on that mission that made Makarov lock up Aaron and her team."

Price got up and walked out, but Soap followed. "Price she saved my life, I owe her that much." Soap said walking alongside his mentor who stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Where do we even look Soap?" Price questioned. "You heard Johnston there could be hundreds of places they could have Aaron locked up. And they've already went to thirty locations to hit a dead end every time." Price started walking again, but Soap followed.

"You know Makarov better than anyone else. If he locked you up in a hellhole like the gulag than chances are Aaron and her team will be somewhere like that, too." Soap debated. Price stopped again. "Okay so say I go with you on this. We get Makarov and go back to Hereford where we're gonna have to first find out where she is, plan out an entire mission, get a team together, and do the mission itself. That takes time Soap. Time that you could spend with your fiancé and your family instead of going on a mission that could lead nowhere."

Soap thought for a second. He would have to go longer without seeing Jen and his other family if he did this. But then again maybe Aaron had a family and had a fiancé or was already married for all he knew. He had to do this…for Aaron.

"Price I owe her my life." Soap finally said. Price let out a breath. "Okay." he agreed. "I'll start looking into things after we get Makarov. Until then he is our primary target and main focus." Price walked off back to the armory leaving Soap in the hallway with a feeling of hope in his chest. Hope that Aaron was still alive.

A little short, but I found some extra time to do a little writing so here you go! Please Review!


	9. Almost There

_**RUSSIA**_

Cyber sat with Ben in her cell wrapped in a thin blanket trying to warm herself from the cold Russian air. She had only the pants and shirt she came here in which had tears in them and a hat, gloves, and jacket that were given to her from the Russians. But that was nowhere near enough for the cold Russian air.

Other than being freezing, Cyber had lost a significant amount of weight in the three months she's been in the hell whole. She went from a healthy one hundred forty pounds which included muscle to a very low one hundred ten pounds. She looked so much smaller than before now that over half of her fat and muscle were gone.

As far as injuries went, she was suffering from a concussion, several stab wounds, more minor cuts and bruises as well as a few infections, a sprained wrist, and something in her blood that would kill her if it didn't get it treated soon. She was also coming down with some sort of flu or cold that seemed to get worse everyday.

Of the twenty soldiers which included Cyber, only eight remained. The other twelve had died in their time at the prison. Five were killed directly in front of Cyber in an attempt to break her and get the information they had on Makarov, three died from infection, and the last four died from sickness.

Overall, it has been the hardest thing Cyber has ever experienced. She knew that if she did somehow get out, she would suffer from some major post-traumatic stress disorder after seeing her own teammates killed in front of her. She saw it again and again every time she closed her eyes…

As she sat next to Ben who was still hanging on, but not by a lot after everything that has happened to them, she realized they haven't talked all that much for the past few weeks. Not that she didn't understand why. What was there to talk about? The way the Russians beat and tortured them?

"Ben?" she croaked. He looked at her. "Yeah Aaron?" he replied.

"Just in case we don't make it out, I just want you to know how grateful I am for what a great friend you've been to me." Cyber told Ben before going into a short coughing fit. Ben smiled at her weakly. "Same to you Cyber." He replied.

_**ONE WEEK LATER**_

He was dead. Makarov was finally dead. After years of death, torture, and fighting, the Russian terrorist was dead. Price hung the sorry excuse for a man from the roof of the Hotel Oasis just as Soap entered the room Price and Makarov fell into from the roof.

"Price!" Soap yelled as he ran into the room. Makarov came falling down, but came to an abrupt stop when the cable ran out of slack. Price fell to the ground as Makarov kicked his legs a few times before his body hung completely limp. Soap stopped in his tracks as he took in the sight while Price pushed himself back onto the floor. Soap walked over to his mentor and sat down next to him. He first looked at Makarov, but then at the small pool of blood forming around Price. "Looks like I didn't get the major injuries this time old man…" Soap teased. Price pulled out a cigar and his lighter. "There's always next time." He replied. After Price flicked his lighter a couple of times before it finally lit, he took a drag from his cigar before pulling out the M1911 pistol he slid to Soap on the bridge five years ago that ended Imran Zakhaev's life. He handed the gun to Price. "This belongs to you." He stated. Soap looked at him and then the gun. "Price," he began.

"You killed Zakhaev on that bridge. You deserve the gun that allowed you to do that." Price interrupted. Soap gave him a long look before accepting the gun. "Thanks John…" Soap said, calling Price by his real name for the first time since they've met. Price looked at him. "Don't mention it…John." He replied, calling Soap by his first name for the first time. Soap smirked at the reply and turned his head back towards Makarov's hanging body as sirens began to sound in the distance.

That was now a week ago and Soap and Price were now back in Hereford trying to figure out where Aaron and her team could be located. They decided to go back to where everything started: Russia. Hungary was practically untouched by the war so there weren't any camps in that part of Europe, but as far as Russia went, there have been reports left and right of all sorts of labor camps being transformed into prisoner of war camps once World War Three started. Many camps were shut down once the war ended, but some still remained. By the time they crossed off the all the Russian camps that were shut down and the ones Johnston sent teams to already, they were able to narrow it down to two possible camps.

"I say we send two separate teams to the camps to get the job done quicker." Price suggested as he circled the two locations. Soap stepped closer to the map. "What if they aren't in either?" he questioned.

"There are other camps scattered around Europe and luckily a large handful of them have already released the prisoners or have been shut down since the war ended." Price informed his protégée. Soap stepped back from the wall and turned to go back to his room, but Price stopped him. "Soap…" he said. Soap turned back towards him. "Why is this so important to you?" his mentor asked

"That girl saved my life not knowing any idea who I was. She's the reason I get to go back to my family and fiancé. Had it not been for her, I would have went back in a casket." Soap explained. "I owe her that much." All Price did was nod before Soap turned and went back to his room.

_**TWO DAYS LATER**_

Soap sat in the chopper with Price next to him as they flew towards one of the prisoner of war camps in Russia. He jammed the magazine into his gun as they approached the location causing a stomach full of butterflies to arise in his stomach. What if she wasn't here? What if she's already dead? A thousand more thoughts ran through his head as the helicopter landed in the Russian snow.


	10. Rescue

She couldn't take much more. She didn't know what the date was, what time it was, she has even lost count of how many days she's been in this hell hole anymore. Makarov was apparently dead according to the Russians which angered them. They blamed Cyber and her team for his death, meaning that all the anger was taken out on them. All of the soldiers left were now suffering from more injuries and it all Cyber knew was that it was very early in the morning when someone came and dragged her out of her and Ben's cell to the room where she got all her beatings.

Once she was thrown into the room onto the hard, cold ground a pair of strong arms picked her up by the shoulders and a hard fist hit her across the face. She fell flat onto her stomach and tried to pick herself up when whoever it was brought their foot down on her right hand…hard. She let out a cry of pain as the bone crunched under the boot. Her hand had to either be broken or shattered at this point. Then, a pair of hands turned her over and tied her ankles and wrists together with rope. He pulled her up and used the extra rope hanging from her wrists to tie her to a beam going across the ceiling. She hung by her wrists, making her sprained ankle and now busted up hand to hurt a hundred times worse. Then a piece of tape went over her mouth.

Right when she thought the Russian was going to leave her there to hang by her wrists, she was far from right. The Russian stabbed sharp blade went into her abdomen. She grunted in pain when the blade came out of her flesh. It entered her once more when the sound of a helicopter caught her attention as well as the person stabbing her.

Soap rushed out of the helicopter with Price and towards the large fenced in area where there were two large buildings. "Watch your fire in there." Price reminded his group. "We don't know what's behind each door."

The team breached the yard just as the Russians poured out and unleashed fire on them. Soap took cover behind a stone wall and fired at the militia. There weren't as many as they have faced on other missions, so it was easy to get through the courtyard. "Soap take Ramirez, Murray, and Parish to that building." Price ordered. "I'll take the rest to the other building."

Soap led the team into the building on the right and kicked in the front door. "Check these cells. Take any prisoners to the chopper immediately for medical attention." Soap ordered as he moved down the corridor.

Each soldier kicked in the first four doors and found two soldiers in the cells Ramirez and Parish kicked in. The two soldiers rushed in and untied the two very wounded prisoners' hands and ankles. "Do you know where the others are?" Parish asked his prisoner. "No…" the prisoner replied tiredly. Parish helped him to his feet. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"Yeah." The prisoner replied.

Parish helped him out to the hallway where Ramirez wrapped his jacket around the prisoner he found while Soap came out of another cell with two more. "We found two over here." Price radioed.

"We're still checking cells in here." Soap replied. "Halfway through."

"Copy that. Price out."

"Did you find Aaron?" one of the prisoners asked. Soap turned towards him. "She's here?" he asked.

"Yeah, a guard took her from our cell this morning…" the prisoner told Soap.

"I'll find her." Soap assured him. "Take these four to the chopper now." Ramirez and Parish nodded and then leaded the freezing prisoners out of the building while Soap checked the rest of the cells.

After kicking in the last cell door, Soap was discouraged that he didn't find Aaron. He stepped into the cell and put his hands on the back of his head. "Damn it…" he sighed as he kneeled on the ground. "Soap we found another in our building." Price informed him. "Anymore in yours?" Soap looked around the empty cell and let out a breath. "No…" he answered. Price heard the tone in his voice and knew what it meant. "Head back to the chopper. Let's get the others out of here." he replied.

Soap stood up and walked out of the cell when he saw another door. "Be there in a minute, Price." He said as he raised his gun and kicked in the door. He walked in and saw someone with knotty long brown hair hanging from her wrists. "Aaron!" Soap breathed out. Aaron began shaking her head as Soap walked towards her which confused him at first when someone tackled him onto the ground from the side. His gun slid across the ground and the person stood up with a pistol pointed at him. Soap kicked his feet out from other him as he pulled the trigger, the bullet landing right near Soap's head. He went over and punched him across the face twice before pulling out his knife and jamming it through his skull.

Once he grabbed his gun, Soap stood up and went over to Aaron. He pulled the tape off of her mouth and gave her a small smile. "What are you doing here?" she croaked. Her voice sounded different. It sounded old and sick instead of happy and lively like before. "You saved my life." Soap reminded her as he cut the rope on her ankles. "Now I'm saving yours." He stood up and cut the rope from her wrist causing her to drop from the beam. She looked at Soap and went to say something, but her eyes rolled up and she fell into him. He caught her and kneeled to the ground with her. Turning her over, he saw she was out cold. He unzipped his jacket and put it around her before picking her up bridal style like she was weighed nothing. "Price I'm coming out now." Soap told Price. "I found another one."

Soap carried Aaron out of the room and down the hall as she began to shiver in his arms. "Just hold on Aaron." Soap whispered to her as he stepped outside. He ran out of the courtyard and towards the helicopter where the rest of the team was waiting.


	11. By A Thread

There were three medics on the helicopter that came with the team and they were furiously going back and forth to each of the rescued prisoners with the help of team members. Soap sat Aaron down while the three medics looked at the others. He checked her pulse which was weak when he noticed the fresh blood on her shirt. He grabbed a medical kit from the overhead cabinet and opened it up. The first thing he did was pull on a pair of gloves over his dirty hands before pulling out a pair of scissors. He cut Aaron's shirt off, revealing two fresh stab wounds in her abdomen along with several more cuts and bruises. It shocked him to see how busted up she was.

Soap quickly got to work and poured some water over her skin to get all the dirt and dried blood off her skin. He wiped her skin with a towel and then pressed gauze pads to her stab wounds. While he applied pressure to the wounds, Price walked over and kneeled down on the other side of Aaron. "What can I help with?" he asked his protégée. Soap looked up at him. "Check her for anymore major injuries." He told Price. Price did as he was told and checked her head first and then her face where there was a long cut above her right eyebrow as well as all the bruises from the beatings.

Price then checked her arms where there were just more minor cuts and more bruises, but when he got down to her left leg, there was an infected stab would. He cut the fabric away and got a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from the medical kit. He poured it into the wound causing it to make a sizzling sound while white bubbles appeared. He repeated this several times until no more bubbles came up.

Once he was able to slow down the bleeding, Soap began to stitch up her stab wounds. They weren't too long in length, so it didn't take too long to stitch. After he finished with them and Price finished taking care of her leg, her unconscious body began to shake uncontrollably. The two captains moved back as she fell to the ground shaking. "What's happening?" Soap asked as he turned her on her side. "Her blood sugar…" an Irish accent said. Soap turned and looked at where the voice came from. "When it gets too low she goes into seizures. She needs a glucose shot." The Irish man said.

"There's one here!" a medic announced rushing over with a first aid kit. He pulled a syringe out of the kit and handed it to Soap. "It goes into her thigh." The Irish voice said. Soap turned towards Aaron again and jammed the needle into her thigh, pushing the liquid into her bloodstream. A few seconds after pulling the needle out her body stopped shaking. Soap let out a breath of relief and dropped the syringe. "I think that's all we can do for her right now." Price told him. "We'll have to wait until we get back to Hereford where we have actual doctors and nurses." Soap got Aaron in a sitting position before sitting back on the ground and running a hand through his Mohawk. He found her.

As he sat next to Aaron on the flight back to London, Soap noticed how Aaron was still shivering despite the fact that she was wrapped up in several blankets and Soap's jacket. After a while he couldn't take seeing her like that anymore so he opened the cocoon of blankets and pulled Aaron into his arms, reclosing the blankets around them. He held her close trying to warm her up with body heat and it actually began to work. Her shivering seemed to stop after a few minutes and then relax all together. Soap looked down at her relaxed face and half smiled when she nuzzled closer to him.

The helicopter arrived at the base two hours later where there were doctors were on standby with gurneys. Soap carried a still unconscious Aaron off of the helicopter while the other team members helped the others off. He got halfway to the gurney when Aaron's eyes reopened. She looked at Soap and then turned her head away from him to throw up. Soap quickly stopped as a medic rushed over to them. "I'll take her." He said putting his arms where Soap's were on Aaron and taking her from him. Soap followed the medic as he rushed Aaron over to a gurney and laid her down on it. "What's her condition?" the medic asked. "Several stab wounds, probably over two dozen minor injuries, and a possible concussion." Soap answered. The medic laid Aaron on the gurney when she let out a grunt of pain. "What hurts?" he asked her. "My hand…" she groaned. The medic looked down at her swollen hand and felt it. "The bone has to be broken." He reported. "Let's get them inside!"

Soap ran by Aaron's side as they rushed her into the medical wing of the S.A.S base. "Captain I'm going to have to ask you to step back." A nurse said as they wheeled Aaron into a room. Soap stopped in his tracks as the doors closed behind the medical team, but he looked through the window into the operation table. They were hooking up heart monitors to her and Soap could see the low beeps. "You need to stay with me!" the nurse said. Soap could see Aaron's vacant stare on her face when her heard the flat line. "Get a charge on her now!" the doctor yelled. A nurse got a defibrillator out and charged it. She placed it on Aaron's chest as she counted. "One, two, three, CLEAR!" the nurse zapped her chest and Soap could hear the heart rate monitor beep again. "We have a heartbeat!" The nurse announced.

As he watched the rest of the rescued prisoners were being wheeled down the hall when to other rooms when Ben saw Soap. He grabbed Soap's wrist as the medic pushed his gurney making Soap turn towards him. "Is she okay?" he croaked. Soap looked down at him and took notice of the side of his face which was badly bruised and his red eye which signaled a popped a blood vessel. "She's alright." Soap answered. Upon hearing this, Ben rested his head on the gurney and the medic wheeled him down the hall.

Price walked in and saw Soap standing outside the operation room where they had Aaron. He stopped in his tracks and watched as his protégée looked through the window on the door, watching as the doctors treated Aaron.


	12. Pray

Okay so I am extremely sorry for the document mix up today. I uploaded the document late last night and didn't have time to go back and check it. Normally I would have sorted it out as soon as I found out, but I didn't check anything until this morning and I overslept so I didn't have time to re-upload the document. But here it is now

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Call of Duty characters. I only own Ben, Aaron, and any other OCs.**

Soap sat in a chair outside the operation room in the middle of the night while the doctors still worked on Aaron. His head was against the wall and his hands were in his lap as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He didn't want to sleep unless he knew Aaron was going to be alright. His mind began to wander when the sound of footsteps caught his attention. He looked down the hall and saw Price walking towards him wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and a long sleeved shirt. "I thought I'd find you out here." he said approaching Soap. "It's been hours…" Soap sighed looking back at the doors. Price sat next to him. "She's been held prisoner for nearly four months." Price reminded him. "They have to run a lot of tests to make sure she's alright." Soap turned his head towards Price. "What about the others?" he asked.

"The other seven will make full recoveries. They all passed out once they finished being treated." Price answered.

"And Johnston?"

"I told him we found his remaining team members and he was ecstatic at the news. He's flying in tomorrow morning."

There was a brief silence before Soap spoke again. "Did I do the right thing?" he asked. "Going on the mission to save Aaron and her team instead of taking my leave?"

"From my view you made a very complex decision." Price answered. "Anyone here would say you did do the right thing, your family may not though. Especially since it's been almost a year since you've seen them and you chose a mission over them. As for me, you made a wise choice. Eight soldiers get to go home to their families because of you."

Before Soap could reply, the operation room door opened and the doctor walked out. Soap and Price stood up as he took his mask off revealing an unreadable expression. "She's going to be just fine." He reported. Soap let a breath escape his lips. "What's her condition?" Price asked.

"She has a lot of minor injuries that should heal pretty quickly, but she is suffering from a concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a broken hand and wrist." The doctor explained. "As far as infections go, she has a small infection in her blood from the stab wound in her leg, but it should be gone in a few weeks on the anti-biotics we have her on. What worries me though is while she was there she developed a pretty severe sickness." He went on. "Her immune system is weak right now due to lack of nutrition so her body is having a hard time fighting it, but if we keep her under treatment and she stays in bed for a few weeks she should make a recovery in a couple of weeks."

"What's the recovery time?" Soap asked.

"Excluding her broken hand and wrist… around two months. Less if she cooperates, but it's not the physical damage that should worry you at this point."

"What do you mean?" Price replied.

"I'm no psychologist, but by what happened in that room she is suffering from major post- traumatic stress disorder." The doctor explained. "Every time we put her to sleep so she wouldn't feel anything while we treated her, her heart rate would sky rocket from what we presume a nightmare, but then when we tried going in with medical tools while she was awake she would freak out and push us away. That's why it took so long to treat her. The wounds will heal, but as far as her mental state is I wouldn't put her back in the field until she talks to someone."

"Thank you." Price said the doctor. He nodded and then walked down the hall into another room. Price turned towards Soap. "She's gonna be alright." He told Soap, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now go to bed." Soap chuckled as Price walked out of the building back to the living quarters.

_**EARLY THE NEXT MORNING (Aaron's Dream/Nightmare)**_

_The Russian pulled her out of her cell late one night to the room she was first taken to when she arrived at the prison. He sat her in a chair and tied her hands behind her back as another guard pulled in one of her teammates. His name was Alex Goodman. He was just put on her team last year as a sniper after the accident. "Are you going to tell me what your people have on Makarov or does another person have to die?" the Russian questioned. _

_ "Don't tell them anything!" Alex told Aaron as he was forced on her knees. The Russian pulled out a handgun and held it to Alex's temple. "I will pull this trigger Sergeant Pager. Now tell me what they know!" _

_ "Don't do it Aaron." Alex said shaking his head. _

_ "One!" the Russian counted. "Two." _

_ "No, no, don't!" Aaron cried. "Three!" the Russian pulled the trigger, firing a bullet through Alex's skull causing blood and brain particles to explode out of the other side of his head. _

_**REALITY**_

Aaron gasped for air and shot straight up in bed from the nightmare just as a nurse rushed in. She had straight, dark hair up in a ponytail and hazel eyes that matched her slightly pale complexion. As for her wardrobe, she wore a pair of dark blue scrubs that had a few blood splatters here and there with a pair of white sneakers on her feet.

The nurse rushed over to Aaron's side and put an arm on her shoulders. "Is everything alright?" she asked as the heart monitor beeped quickly. "Where am I?" Aaron questioned.

"You're in Hereford, London. You were rescued by a team yesterday from Russia." The nurse explained.

"Where are the others?" Aaron asked.

"They're in their rooms resting." The nurse answered as she gently pushed Aaron back onto the bed. "Can you tell me what you remember?" Aaron looked at the nurse with hurt eyes as it all came back to her. "I remember everything up until after someone got me at the prison." She answered.

"Okay I am going to hook you up to some more fluids and then make a phone call alright?" the nurse replied. Aaron nodded and the nurse unhooked the empty IV bag and hooked up a new one before going to make her call.

Soap pushed the weights up once more before setting the weights on the bar and sitting up. He grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat on his face as he grabbed his water bottle, taking a long gulp from it. "Soap!" a familiar voice called out. Soap picked his head up and saw Price in the doorway. "Aaron's awake." He informed him. Soap stood up and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on as he walked towards the door. "You may want to shower off first mate." Price objected before Soap could walk past him.

"We don't know how long she'll be awake." Soap debated.

"Well she won't want to see you while you smell like that." Price replied. Soap rolled his eyes and turned back towards the showers to go rinse off quickly.

In her room, the nurse from earlier who was named Jamie helped Aaron into a change of clothes. Aaron swung her legs around off the edge of the bed and stood up. "Easy sergeant." Jamie cautioned. Aaron gave her a stern look. Then she slipped her t-shirt off, revealing two gauze pads on her abdomen that covered her stab wounds. Jamie handed her clean underwear, a grey camisole top and a black t-shirt that was two sizes too big so it would be comfortable. Aaron pulled the clothes on slowly, mindful of her bruised ribs and messed up hand and wrist that was wrapped up in a white cast. "Do you need any help?" Jamie asked. "No." Aaron muttered annoyingly. She was a soldier and here she was needing someone to watch her get changed.

Once the top clothes were on, Jamie handed Aaron a pair of grey sweatpants that went to her knees and a pair of black ankle socks. "Captain Price and Captain MacTavish will over shortly to speak with you." Jamie informed Aaron. Before she could say anything, Aaron was overcome by light headiness and leaned against the bed. Jamie scurried over close to her and put a supportive hand on her side. "I'm fine." Aaron growled as she sat on the bed. She went to run a hand through her hair, but it was full of knots. "Do you have a brush?" she asked Jamie. The nurse grabbed a brush out of a drawer and handed it to her.

Aaron brushed her knotty hair out and then tied it into a low side ponytail that rested on her shoulders. Once she finished she handed the brush back to Jamie and laid back on the bed. She moved it up a little so she could sit up when she remembered Ben. "Ben." She said quietly "Is Benjamin Hart alive?" Jamie walked to her bed side. "He is, but right now he can't leave his bed and neither can you." She informed the soldier. "He's my best friend I have to see him." Aaron went out get out of bed when nauseous took over and she threw up all over the floor. Jamie stepped away just in time to avoid the chunks, but everything they put into Aaron's stomach was all over the floor. The hospitalized soldier fell back onto her pillows unconscious, causing alert in Jamie. The nurse walked through the vomit as the heart monitor began beeping lowly and pressed the assistance button. She got Aaron into the bed correctly as doctors and nurses rushed in. Aaron's unconscious body began gasping for air sending the doctors into panic. "She isn't breathing!" the doctor informed the nurses. Jamie rushed over with a resuscitator and began squeezing the silicone part to get Aaron some air. After a few seconds she began breathing again and her heart rate rose.

Soap walked down the halls of the hospital with Price freshly showered and feeling good, looking forward to seeing Aaron. The two captains were almost to her room when nurses and doctors began rushing past them. "That can't be good." Price said when they turned into Aaron's room. This caused her and Soap to rush ahead where they found doctors and nurses surrounding Aaron's bed.

"She isn't breathing!" a doctor yelled causing another nurse to get a piece of equipment to get her breathing again. Soap put a hand over his mouth as he watched with, fearing she wasn't going to be alright. Then the heart monitor began beeping at a normal rate again and the nurse removed the breathing apperatice from Aaron's face. "Vitals are normal, breathing is consistent." The doctor reported. "Jamie I expect you by her side the entire time she is in this hospital are we clear?"

"Yes sir." The dark-haired nurse replied.

Everyone but Jamie left Aaron's room left as Soap and Price walked in. The nurse called in a janitor to clean up the vomit on the floor when she noticed Price and Soap. "She may be out for a while." She reported. "She got sick again and passed out."

"Call us if anything changes or if she wakes up." Price told the nurse.

"I'm gonna stay here." Soap said to Price. "Just in case."

"I'm going to see when Johnston will arrive."

Price left the room leaving Jamie and Soap alone. The captain sat in a chair by the window as the janitor came in to clean up the puke covered floor and Jamie jotted down things on a clipboard and looked over Aaron's vitals. Soap looked out the window for a few moments before turning his head back towards Aaron and for the first time…in a long time…he prayed.


	13. One More Favor

About twenty minutes after her episode, Aaron began to stir awake. Before she opened her eyes she clenched the soft blanket in her fingers and moved her head to the side. Then she finally opened her eyes. The room was blurry at first, but her eyes soon adjusted. She saw someone sitting by the window in a chair looking outside. Even though their face was looking away from her she knew it was Soap by the revolver tattoo on the back of his neck she noticed back in Prague so long ago.

"Soap?" she croaked with a sore, scratchy voice. The captain turned towards her and stood up, walking over to her quickly. "Hey," he greeted standing by her bed side. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." Aaron replied. "And sick…"

Soap saw Aaron's face get a little paler as she talked. Then she sat-up a little with a sick look on her face causing Soap to grab the small trash can next to her bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and handed her the trash can which she took happily and held in her hands as she threw up. There wasn't a lot to throw up at this point, just water and the little food she had in her system.

Aaron felt Soap put a hand on her back as she vomited into the trash can in an attempt to comfort her, but at this point she didn't want to be touched by anyone. But she was too preoccupied to object. After a couple of minutes, Aaron stopped throwing up and Soap took the trash can from her and set it on the floor. "I have to call Price to let him know you're awake." He told her standing up. She didn't reply.

Soap left the room and went to the phone where he called Price.

"She's awake." He told his captain.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Johnston's helicopter is almost here." Price replied.

In her room Aaron untied her hair and let it fall loosely past her shoulders. She didn't need to look in a mirror to know she looked awful. Her skin was pale, she was way too skinny, bandages covered her arms and legs, and it was obvious her hair was badly damaged by the look of split ends and destroyed color. She sighed. More scars to add onto the ones she already possessed on her body. She allowed her eyes to close for a few seconds when footsteps caught her attention. Opening her eyes, she saw Soap walking back in.

"Your captain is on his way here. He's about five minutes out." He informed her. Aaron stayed quiet. She really didn't want to talk because she knew everyone was going to ask the same thing. What happened out there? And it was going to start with Johnston in five minutes. Wonderful.

Soap wasn't surprised that Aaron was quiet. She was just rescued after being held prisoner in Russia for nearly four months. He really wanted to talk to her just one person to another, but she just closed her eyes again for a few minutes.

Johnston walked with Price down the medical wing with Price next to him to go see the soldiers he though he lost. "I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation Price." Johnston said to Price. "You found my team when I couldn't."

"You should thank Soap MacTavish." Price replied. "He was the one who wanted who to find the team."

"I will make sure I thank him." Johnston responded as they reached Aaron's room.

Soap was seated by the window when Johnston and Price walked in. He looked over at Aaron who opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps, coming face to face with her captain. "Aaron…" he said happily. "Hey Johnston…" she replied. He walked over to her bed side and sat down. "How are you?" he asked.

"I've had better days…" Aaron admitted. This caused Johnston to smile, but it quickly faded. "I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner" he apologized. "But we looked everywhere…we searched half of Europe."

"It's alright…" Aaron assured him. Johnston looked at Price and Soap. "I want to thank you Soap, for what you did. You brought my team back." he thanked the mow hawked captain. "No need to thank me sir." Soap replied.

"May I have a moment alone with her now?" Johnston asked.

"Of course." Price answered. "I'll inform the rest that you are here."

Soap and Price walked out of the room, leaving Aaron and Johnston alone in the room. "Before I move on with what I need to say," Johnston began. "You need to know that with you gone we didn't have anyone to do your job." Aaron furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" she questioned.

"We have someone doing your job back in Hungary." Johnston explained. "He's really proved himself and has made a home at the base."

"What are you saying Johnston?" Aaron questioned, her voice stern.

"We don't have a place for you at the base. A new team came in after you went MIA and they've taken over operations."

"Are you serious?" Aaron snapped. "We got shot down by an RPG! We were held prisoner in Russia for almost four months and this is the first thing you say to me?"

"Look I know it's difficult to process, but maybe this is a good thing for you." Johnston tried to reason. "You've been enlisted since you were eighteen and it's been ten years. Maybe this is a good stopping point for you."

"Stopping point?" Aaron questioned. "As in you're _discharging_ me?" Johnston remained quiet. She shook her head. "You can't." she objected. "You know you can't. What am I going to go back to? Nothing! You of all people should know that Johnston. I have _no one_ to go back to! I don't have a life away from the military."

Johnston let out a breath. "I don't have a place for you and the others with the new team."

"Then find a place. You have known me for eight years…please…" Aaron begged. Johnston saw the desperation in her eyes but shook his head. "I'm sorry." He apologized.

Soap waited outside the hospital room with Price when he heard Aaron's voice rise a little. "As in you're discharging me?" he heard her say angrily. This caught her attention. She was being discharged?

Johnston came out a few moments later with a disappointed expression. "That went as I expected." Was all he said on the topic. "I am going to check on my other men." He walked away and Soap went back into the hospital room where Aaron had her head in her hands.

"Aaron?" he said quietly as he closed the door. "Is everything alright?" She picked her head up and looked at him with her brown eyes. "No." she answered. "First I get my ass thrown in a prison and tortured on a daily basis only to get rescued and told my captain wants to discharge me!" she half yelled in a tone mixed with sad and angry. "Why is that?" Soap asked walking to the side of her bed.

"He thinks I have done my service, but I can't be discharged…not yet…" Aaron said a little calmer.

"Don't you want to be with our family?" Soap questioned. Aaron gave him a cold look. "Family?" she repeated. "What family? My family has wanted nothing to do with me since the day I enlisted. They dropped every form of contact after I left for basic training. They don't respond to any of my letters or phone calls. I have called them once a month every month since I was shipped out. My mother, my father, and my older brother have not spoken a word to me for ten years."

Soap was shocked. She didn't have anyone, or anything to go back to. The military was all she knew…and had. "I don't know what to say." He finally replied to Aaron who had an expression missed with sadness and frustration. "Just leave me alone…" she said quietly in a less stern voice.

In the hall, Price talked with Aaron's nurse Jamie when Soap came out of Aaron's room. "Excuse me." Price said to Jamie before walking over to Soap. "Price…" his protégée began. "I know I'm already in your debt, but I just need one more favor…but this one is really important."


	14. Slow Recovery

"You want me on your task force?" Aaron questioned. It was later in the afternoon in Hereford while Aaron attempted to eat a bowl of soup in bed, praying it would stay in her stomach. Price came to her after he talked with both Soap and Johnston. Soap told Price about Aaron being discharged and why she dreaded it. He talked Price into bringing her and what's rest of her team onto the One-Four-One…with a few exceptions.

"Yes." Price answered. "But there is a catch."

"I figured that." Aaron replied. "What is it?"

"I have seen your record and you are one remarkable soldier, but my task force is very elite." Price explained. "We have some of the best soldiers in the world who are amazing at what they do."

"Okay…"

"Now I based on your record you have been in combat, but I was truly amazed at your knowledge with computers. But you are also experienced with robotics and have an understanding of basic mechanics."

"Where's this going Price?" Aaron finally asked avoiding the topic of her

"I want you on the One-Four-One as a technician on the computers and anywhere else I could use you."

Aaron sat up a little bit. No more combat? That would be kind of nice. Spending her days doing what she really loved… it was perfect. But she would feel weird staying behind when they went out putting their lives on the line. But by the look on Price's face, she could tell he wasn't up for a negotiation.

"Okay." she agreed. "As long as the others agree too."

"I have already talked to them and they said as long as everyone agrees to it, then they would all join."

This made Aaron smile just a little. "Thank you Price." She thanked him. "For everything." The captain stood up. "No need for thank you's." he told her as he stood up. "I'll go talk to Johnston." Price left the room, leaving Aaron with a small smile still on her face.

Over the next four weeks, Aaron slowly began to recover. Her stab wounds were healing remarkably and were almost completely recovered. Her bruised ribs were nearly healed so she was able to get out of bed for a little bit, but it she couldn't stand for too long because it tired her out. Her blood infection was still there though slowly going away, but it would be a while until it was completely diminished. As far as her sickness went, she still suffered from the usual symptoms: fever, drowsiness, nausea, coughing, and of course throwing up. Her stomach still had trouble holding food down so she still suffered extreme vomiting episodes. Moving on from the sickness, her hand and wrist needed another three weeks in the cast before she could start physical therapy. She also was gaining a little weight back, but not a lot with the diet she was on. She wouldn't regain all the weight she lost until she switched back to solid foods and began training again.

As for Ben, he was improving as well. He had suffered from a pretty bad concussion, a dislocated shoulder, three stab wounds, two infections, and a lot more minor injuries. He and Aaron got to see one another a few days after their arrival in Hereford and Soap could never forget the sight of those two reuniting.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_Aaron was lying in bed reading when Soap came in. "Hey." He greeted. Aaron looked up at him. "Hi…" she replied. _

_ "How are you feeling?" Soap asked walking over._

_ "Better than before." Aaron replied _

_ "I have someone you might want to see…"_

_ "Who?"_

_Soap looked at the door as did Aaron when someone came walking in. Aaron's face broke into a smile when she saw Ben even though he had his shoulder wrapped from it being dislocated and his other forearm wrapped with gauze pads from a stab wound. His skin regained color and he had put on some weight in the few days they've been there so he didn't look as sickly. Aaron dropped her book as she got out of bed and rushed over to Ben. _

_Ben wrapped his arms around Aaron's waist carefully because he thought if he held onto her too hard he would break her. "Hey Aaron…" he said quietly. She pulled back and wiped her eyes that were filling with tears. "Hey…" she replied with a chuckle. Ben looked at her eyes and saw a spark of life in them again which he hasn't seen in months since they've been captured. Soap quietly walked past the two and out of the room, but turned around to see Aaron hug Ben again only this time she started to cry quietly into his shirt _

_**REALITY**_

Ever since those two got to seeing each other again, it was almost as if they we always with one another. Aaron would sit with Ben in his room or he would go to his and they would just sit and talk. It also seemed to help Aaron with getting better from her illness. She was happier and livelier when he was around then when he wasn't. It also seemed like he was the only person she really talked to. Sure she would say something to Soap and Price when they in to see her, but she had conversations with Ben. Long meaningful ones to be specific. They would talk about anything and they would go on and on for hours talking about anything. Soap was hoping to befriend Aaron on a personal level after what they did for one another, but it seemed like she didn't want anything to do with anyone but Ben and her team.

So this chapter is a little short, but right now I am fighting a cold and really didn't have a lot of energy to write my normal length chapters. Anyway since I am not 100% sold on females being on the most elite task force in the world I gave Aaron a more minor part on the team as a technician for the task force. I'm a girl so don't think I'm sexist or anything btw. So **crazychi **I hope you are satisfied with my decision


	15. Just Aaron

_**ANOTHER THREE WEEKS LATER (LAST TIME GAP FOR A WHILE I PROMISE)**_

Aaron stood in front of the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. She was finally being released from the hospital to go get settled in her own quarters on the base, but she didn't look ready to leave. Her hair has lost all the life I once possessed and needed to be cut, her skin was still sickly looking, and she had her cast on her hand removed, but it was still wrapped in gauze wraps and tape. Her blood infection was almost completely gone and she wasn't as sick as she once was. She still felt like she was going throw up if she inhaled the wrong kind of aroma and light headiness also overcame her every now and again.

Walking out of her hospital room she joined Soap out in the lobby who would be escorting her to her room. "Ready to get out of here?" he asked her. She nodded. He gave her a smile and allowed her to go first and then followed behind.

The living quarters were in the middle of the base so it was a longish walk through the cold London air. Along the way Soap pointed out the training building, infirmary for more minor injuries, the pit and obstacle course, and a few other places. "Since you're our technician your job will take place in the technical building where all the computers are and since you also have an understanding in mechanics, you'll also get to work in the garage fixing up Humvees and building new weapons." The Scott explained to Aaron who looked around with a smile on her face.

The look on Aaron's face made Soap smile a little just as they reached the living quarters. He led her inside down to her room which was halfway down the hall. Pulling the key out of his pocket and handing it to her Soap told her that he was right down the hall if she needed anything. "Thank you…" she thanked him. "No problem." He replied, turning to leave but she grabbed his arm gently. He turned back towards her. "No for everything." She clarified. "For saving me and the others from Russia…I never did thank you properly for that which I really should have. I guess while I was in the hospital I was just edgy and irritated." Soap gave her a smiled. "You don't have to thank me for that." He informed her.

"No I do." Aaron replied. "You gave me a second chance."

"You saved me once remember?" Soap reminded her. She smiled. "Yeah I did…" she confirmed. With a smile, Soap turned around and walked down to his room to make a phone call. Aaron opened her door and walked inside where a nice, clean room was waiting for her. There was a full sized bed with a dark red comforter that matched the light brown walls nicely. There was a small couch and coffee table as well as a desk with a laptop, lamp, and some file organizers. There was a sliding door closet and a small bathroom across from the bed that contained a shower, sink, and toilet.

On the bed there was all of Aaron's clothing that was ordered in that consisted of the normal military attire. Black and grey cargo pants, t-shirts, and long sleeved shirts were the majority of the clothes as well as the combat boots. There were also her gun holsters and her issued Walther P99 handgun. But then there was also a black duffle bag next to the pile of military clothes.

Aaron unzipped the duffle bag and found a bunch of toiletries and feminine needs. There were also a few pairs of casual skinny jeans, tops, and shoes. She wondered where the bag came from when she found a note in the bag.

_Thought you could use some things for when you go off the base. –Jamie_

Her nurse? Setting the note down, Aaron pulled the clothes out that were actually quite nice for going out to a restaurant or just somewhere in general. She put all the clothes in her closet and then began putting all the toiletries away when she found a box of hair dye in with the other things with a note attached.

_Thought you'd want to fix your hair. –Jamie_

Aaron smiled and looked at the color. It was a dark brown and she couldn't wait to do something with her awful looking hair that was getting way too long and lacked life and color. Looking at all the items a smile formed on her face as an idea came to mind.

In his room, Soap talked on the phone with his parents who were still really upset about him not able to make it home even though it's been weeks.

"When do you think you will be home?" his mother asked.

"I don't know, mum. I will try to get home as soon as I can." He replied.

"We all miss you. Jen misses you."

The mention of Jen brought a smile to Soap's face. He was supposed to be getting married in the hopefully near future and his bride to be was sitting back in Scotland waiting for him to come home. When he called her the few times since they were no longer labeled as disavowed she sounded different. Her whole tone seemed off when she talked. Even the first phone call he made and she answered when he said it was him he was expecting her to be happy, but she didn't sound it. Quite frankly it worried him. Did she still want to marry him after being apart for so long? The thought made Soap hurt a little in his chest, but then he thought maybe they just needed to see each other face to face again.

"Tell Jen I will call her tomorrow. I have to do some things around here for the night, but I will make sure I call as much as I can. I love you." Soap told his mom.

"We love you, too John. Stay safe."

With that, Soap hung up and looked at the photo of him and Jen in his bed side table. He smiled at it and then walked out of his room to go to the technical building where Price was.

Once there, Soap found Price in the main computer room inputting all of Aaron's information into the system. "I thought Aaron would be with you." Price commented as he typed. "She's getting settled in her room." Soap replied walking over to him. "Can I ask you something?" Price looked at him.

"What is it son?"

"Now that we're back and everything Jen and I are probably going to start to really plan the wedding…" Soap began. "And I wanted to ask you if you'd be my best man." Price was surprised. "I thought your brother was filling that role." He suggested.

"I was going to have him as my best man, but Price you and I have been to hell and back with one another. I want you to as my best man. I mean I owe you my life."

Price gave Soap a small smile. "I gladly accept." He finally answered. "I'm honored Soap." Soap smiled just as the door to the room opened. They both looked at the entrance and Soap did a double take. It was Aaron. Only she looked different. Her original long hair that lost color was not cut to her shoulders with long side bang and dyed a dark brown. She was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a dark green military jacket that went with her combat boots. Her skin seemed to have returned to its original color and there was a small smile plastered on her face.

"Hey," she greeted. "You told me to come here once I was settled?"

"Yeah…" Soap confirmed with a half-smile. She blushed a little and walked past him to Price. "I was just putting in your information into the system." The old man informed her. "What's your call sign again?"

"I'd actually prefer not to use it anymore." Aaron told Price. He turned towards her. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I just wanna be Aaron."

Okay so here's the next chapter, sorry if it sucks. I am still a little sick and I have had a pretty bad day so if you guys could give me some reviews to lift my sucky mood that would be wonderful. :)

_**-Backstroker98**_


	16. You Need Help

Over the next few days, Soap was relieved to see Aaron's team adjust to the new base and their new lives. They were all recovered and healthy after being rescued a few weeks ago and were back in training. The rest of the task force welcomed them with open arms and made them feel at home in Hereford. Everyone seemed to train together as well as engage in time consuming activities like playing cards or video games in the rec room which was a one floor building where the soldiers could kick back and relax.

As far as Aaron went though she spent a lot of time in the technical building working on the computers or in the mechanics garage fixing up Humvees. She seemed to keep to herself a lot and didn't engage in a lot of conversations or activities with the others, including Ben. Soap had tried on several occasions to talk to her, but she would just reply with one word answers or a simple nod of her head. At first it worried Soap until he remembered the doctor at the hospital saying she would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Then it hit him that she hasn't talked to anyone about what happened in Russia.

One morning Soap was heading over to the mechanical garage to see of Aaron would talk to him. He went inside the office where he found Aaron with her head on her desk surrounded by papers. Opening the door, he walked in and went over to her desk, gently putting an arm on her shoulder. "Aaron?" he said quietly. Before her eyes even opened she grabbed his hand, stood up, spun him around, and pinned his arm to his back all in one fast motion. "Oh shit Soap!" she exclaimed letting him go. "I'm sorry." He turned around and came face to face with Aaron who looked absolutely exhausted.

"It's okay…" he said. "Were you here all night?"

Aaron shifted her weight to her other foot. "Yeah I was doing some paperwork and I guess I drifted off…" she explained, running a hand through her hair. "Wanna get some coffee?" Soap offered.

"Sure." Aaron agreed with a small smile.

Walking to the mess hall, Aaron tied her messy hair into a ponytail and rubbed the sleepiness, from her eyes. Soap watched her from the corner of his eye and saw the tiredness all over her face, as if she hasn't slept well in days or even weeks.

The mess hall was still pretty vacant when Soap and Aaron got there so there was no wait in the line for coffee and food. Aaron just got a bowl of oatmeal and a large cup of coffee whereas Soap got a plate of eggs and bacon for breakfast and a glass of orange juice. "So how's everything going for you here?" Soap asked as they walked over to a place to eat.

"Fine." Aaron answered tiredly before taking a sip of coffee. Soap took a swig of his orange juice and then looked at Aaron. "I need to talk to you about something…" he began. She looked at him as she took a bite of oatmeal. "Back in the hospital the doctor recommended that you talk to someone about what happened in Russia. I didn't really want to say anything about it to you until you were settled but now that you are I thought it would be a good time." Aaron gave him a long look.

"I'm fine." She told him finally, her tone calm. "I really don't need to talk to anyone about it."

"Look Aaron you went through something really traumatic, you should talk to someone about it." Soap suggested.

"I don't wanna talk about it." she snapped. "I don't wanna have to go back and think about what happened."

"I'm just suggesting…" Soap began

"Well don't." Aaron cut him off.

"I had PTSD too Aaron it's not easy especially if you don't talk to anyone about it."

"Look I went through it all before. The therapy, the appointments, all the remembering and I don't wanna do it all over again." Aaron stood up. "I don't wanna think about what happened in Russia and I don't wanna talk about it."

"Look I know it's hard,"

"It's not the talking about it that's hard," Aaron cut him off. "It's having to remember my teammate getting his throat slit in front of me when they tried to get me to talk or how I got locked in a room for a week at a time with my hands and ankles tied and a bag over my head." With that said Aaron stormed out of the mess hall angrily leaving Soap in deep thought. Yes it didn't go well, but at least she talked to him.

Later that afternoon Aaron was in the mechanics garage again replacing a radiator hose when footsteps caught her attention. She turned around and found Price there. "Hey," she greeted as she turned back to her work.

"Mind if I have a word?" Price asked. Aaron let out a breath and turned around, wiping her hands off with a rag as she faced her captain. "What's up, Price?" she asked.

"I want you to talk to the base's therapist." He told her.

"Price I told Soap this morning I didn't want to talk to anyone about it." Aaron informed him.

"I wasn't asking. Everyone else on your team is having sessions with the therapist about what happened and you should, too."

"I don't wanna talk about it though. I've gone through it. Last year…"

Price let out a breath. "So you read the report, right?" Aaron questioned. "How my team's boat crashed in that river and we lost eight of our own because our medic was killed and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere? I've already gone through it all and it didn't help. So what makes you think it'll help now?"

"Look if you think it won't help you than don't go, but I am strongly advising it. You need help Aaron whether you want to admit it or not." With that much spoken, Price turned and left the garage.

Here's the next chapter and I guess my bad day has turned into a bad week so some reviews would be nice. I haven't been in the happiest mood so sorry if the chapter is boring, but I promise there will be more Soap and Aaron moments and Aaron and Ben moments again as well.

_**-Backstroker98**_


	17. Opening Up

In the computer room Aaron was occupying herself with sorting computer files when Ben walked in. "Hey." he greeted as he walked in. She turned her head and gave him a small smile. "Hey." She replied before turning her head back towards the large monitor in the center of the room. Ben walked over to her and sat in the chair next to her. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Things…" Aaron replied not taking her eyes off the screen.

"You know me and the rest of the guys were gonna head down to the rec room later tonight…" Ben began. "Why don't you take a break tonight and come on down?"

"I'm good. Probably gonna turn in early anyway." Ben gave her an angry look. "Aaron this needs to stop." He said more sternly. She turned towards him. "What?" she questioned with an equal tone.

"You're doing the same thing you did last year after the accident." Ben pointed out as he stood up. "Shutting everyone out and burying yourself in work."

"I am not." Aaron denied standing up with Ben.

"Yes you are! You have barely said a word to anybody, locked yourself in here or the garage or your room. It's not healthy Aaron, you need help."

"You know you are the third person today to tell me that."

"Because you need to hear it." Ben snapped at her, his tone growing angrier. "You are trying to get by pretending like nothing happened to us now just like you did back then. And look what it did to you. You couldn't sleep for weeks, you were always on high alert ready to jam a knife through someone's skull…I can't see you like that again."

"And you won't." Aaron lied. "I'm fine, Ben."

"That's what you said last year." After saying this, Ben stormed out of the room and out of the building, leaving Aaron alone.

The sun was beginning to set in Hereford as Soap left his office. He looked out at the horizon and allowed a small smile to form on his face seeing that he was able to see another sun set. He began walking back to the living quarters when he saw Aaron come out of the technical building with an armful of files with a laptop bag slung on her shoulder. Soap rushed over to her as she began walking back towards the living quarters. As he approached Aaron looked at him, but then turned away. "Aaron!" he called out. She stopped and turned towards him. "Yes?" she asked as he approached.

"Look I'm sorry about this morning I was just trying to help." Soap apologized.

"Well then don't." Aaron said with a steady tone. "I appreciate the concern and I appreciate you saving me and my team's life, but I don't want help. From anyone."

"Aaron you can't do everything on your own. And you do need help whether you admit it or not."

"Look I said I'm fine Soap. Can we bury this now?"

Soap shook his head. "You can't pretend everything is alright when it isn't."

"I don't wanna talk to some therapist about this okay? They won't understand what it's like. What me and the others had to go through."

"Then talk to me or Price." Soap offered. "He's been taken prisoner before and I know what it's like to sit back and watch my own die. It's hard I know, but you can't just pretend it never happened."

Aaron readjusted her grip on her folders and laptop bag as she looked back at Soap. After a few seconds she let out a breath and shook her head. "Fine." She finally agreed. Soap gave her a half smile and jerked his head to the side. "I was heading back to my room so let's talk on the way." He said. Aaron turned her body as Soap did and began walking back towards the rooms with Soap.

"Just tell me what you're comfortable with." Soap told her. She nodded. "Can we start with what happened last year?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Well it was the team we have here including the some of the ones we lost in Russia and eight more." She began. "We were all going down a river in three separate boats and little did we know there was C4 on the bottom of the docks we were passing. It went off and everyone got thrown off the boats. By the time I hit the water there were already four of our own dead from the immediate blast. There boats were just too close to the blast. I was unconscious in the water and Ben pulled me out. Everyone was pretty hurt with head and limb injuries. The other four we lost died from blood loss and the severity of their injuries. We lost out medic and these injuries were just too serious for us to handle. We couldn't stop the bleeding…" Aaron went on, getting quiet as she got to her next words. "The one guy, Dylan, he was in bad shape. He couldn't take the pain anymore. He-he asked me to uh…" Soap stared at her as she talked. "He practically begged me. All I could think about was his little girl back home who would have to grow up without a father. After I did what He asked me to I felt so guilty when I realized how many people we lost. "

"You couldn't have known-" Soap began.

"No I should have." Aaron cut him off. "It was my job to know every trick the ultranationalists had up their sleeve and that one trap somehow got by me. I should have known it was there. I screwed up. Those eight soldiers dying, that was my fault."

"You can't blame yourself Aaron, no one else does."

"I try to think that, but sometimes the way the other guys look at me sometimes I can't help but think they blame me. And I don't blame them for thinking that. And Russia, I feel like that was my fault too."

"That was not your fault Aaron." Soap said more sternly, trying to show she wasn't to blame. "You can't put that on you."

"That base was not supposed to be as filled as it was. There shouldn't have even been half of how many Russians were there. It was my job to make sure it was a safe mission and I let them down again. We lost another twelve of our own. Had I just looked over things more thoroughly or carefully we wouldn't have ever gone there and those twelve would still be alive…"

Soap stopped just as they approached the living quarters. "Neither of those things were your fault." He assured her. "Things get changed around pretty quickly. For all you know Makarov sent those extra soldiers to the base when you were on your way there. And someone could have put the C4 there at any time. You can't blame yourself."

Aaron gave Soap a weak attempted smile. "So what about you?" she asked. "What's your story?" Soap chuckled and looked at his feet before looking at her again. "That's a story for another day." He told her.

"Then how about tomorrow?" she asked. "I told you all of that and I just want to know who John MacTavish is." Soap gave her a look seeing that she used his real name and chuckled. "Fine." He said tomorrow. "Wanna try breakfast again tomorrow?" Aaron nodded as they walked into the living quarters and towards their rooms.

I don't exactly know if I broke a mirror or spilled salt or walked under a ladder or WHAT because my days have been bad, bad, bad. And I mean BAD. But I am in a better mood than before and made this a depressing/happy chapter. So please review! :)


	18. Backgrounds

In this chapter you will learn the backgrounds of Soap and Aaron a little, but mainly Aaron since she is an OC. Just a head's up :)

Aaron was sitting in the mess hall reading a book and sipping her coffee when Soap walked in. He looked exhausted like he didn't sleep at all last night. When he got closer she put the gun down and looked at him as he sat down. "Not a morning person or a sleeping person?" Aaron asked right away. He looked at her and half smiled. "Got into an argument with my fiancé on the phone last night," he told her. "A lot of things were said and couldn't really sleep after that."

"Sorry to hear that." Aaron sympathized. "Wanna talk about it?"

"To make a long story short she's upset for how long I have been gone, and then got frustrated and angry before finally saying why she's been questioning why she got engaged to a military guy." Soap explained.

"Aw Soap I'm sorry. That can't be easy."

"It's not."

"How long have you two been together?"

"We met about three years ago, but we've been engaged since last year."

"She just needs to cool off. Separation can be hard."

Soap sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "What about you?" he asked. "You have someone back home?" Aaron chuckled. "Hell no." she said. "If I can barely hold onto a relationship with my parents and brother, I doubt I can figure out a relationship with a guy." It was Soap's turn to chuckle.

"Yet you can figure all that mechanic and technical stuff." He pointed out.

"Please that stuff's easy." Aaron replied.

"Doesn't look it. From what I've seen you do I don't know how you don't kill yourself everyday it looks really complex."

Aaron laughed at this which made Soap smile. It was the first time she actually laughed…and he liked the sound of it. "How are you so good at all that anyway?" he questioned. "I mean you enlisted at eighteen so you must not have gone to college for it."

"Math was always my best subject in school to begin with. And then when it became more advanced everything just made sense because both my parents are high school teachers and my older brother is an engineer which is how I know about mechanics." Aaron explained.

"And the medical training? I mean you were able to save my ass in Prague."

"I got an EMT certification after the accident last year. I wanted to be more prepared if something like that ever happened again."

Aaron stood up. "Wanna get something to eat?" she asked him. He looked at her and smiled before standing up with her and going over to the line where they served breakfast.

For breakfast Aaron got a small cup of coffee, a bowl of oatmeal, and an apple whereas Soap went with a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast alongside a steaming hot cup of coffee. "You don't eat a lot do you?" Soap questioned as they retook their seats. Aaron chuckled. "Sorry I don't have the appetite of a big muscular Scotsman." She joked as she took a sip of coffee. Soap smiled and took a bite of his toast. "So," Aaron said. "Can I know something about you?"

"Whadda you wanna know?" he asked.

"Anything." Aaron replied.

With a quick look at her Soap half smiled and then began to talk to her about who he was. She learned that Soap was born and raised in Glasgow by his mom and dad with his older brother Jeremy. Jeremy was five years older than Soap and married to his high school sweetheart Abby who he shared a daughter named Sadie with. Soap's mom, Kelly was a kindergarten teacher and his dad, Jason was a contractor. Soap was close to his family and when he first enlisted when he was eighteen it was hard being away from them. Then he went into how he met Jennifer in the coffee shop and then proposed to her after two years of dating.

"How did you propose to her?" Aaron asked curiously.

"I took her to her to the coffee shop where we met, ordered the same order we had that day, and had the waitress put the ring on top of her muffin. When the waitress put it in front of her she saw the ring and just lost it. I can still see her smile and the tears when I got down on my knee." Soap reminisced, a smile forming on his face at the memory. Aaron smiled and sat back in her chair.

"Enough about me." Soap said. "What about you?"

"What do you wanna know?" Aaron asked.

"Everything."

With a slight blush, Aaron began tell Soap the story of who she was. Aaron brought up her brother Isaac who was an engineer like she said earlier. He was three years older than her and they constantly fought as kids. Like she said before her parents were high school math teachers and were very strict on her and Isaac growing up. They expected her and Isaac to be the best in school and anything else they participated in. She grew up in a strict house where she wasn't allowed to date, had to focus on nothing but school, and was basically forbidden to do anything.

"Sounds rough." Soap commented.

"I didn't have my first boyfriend until I was almost seventeen." Aaron told him. "And that didn't even last more than three weeks after my father's interrogation of him."

This made Soap laugh. "It's not funny." Aaron chucked.

"Wait if your parents were so strict about grades and you were so good in school why did you join the S.A.S?"

Aaron let out a breath. "At three-forty five on the morning of my seventeenth birthday my grandfather had a heart attack." She began. "He was the closest family member I had and he was a veteran from the S.A.S. He was put into the intensive care unit and I was by his bedside until that night where he told me that I should do what I want to do with my life, not what my parents wanted. He died holding my hand and in that moment I made the decision to follow in his footsteps. For the next year I got myself into shape and ready for the military. The day I turned eighteen I enlisted and my parents and brother shut me out after that. I haven't talked to them since I left for basic training almost ten years ago."

Soap dropped his shoulders. "I'm sorry Aaron. That's gotta be hard." He sympathized. She just shrugged her shoulders. "What can I do?" she questioned. Soap was about to say something when he saw the time. It was almost eight. They've been talking for two hours! "Oh shite I gotta go." He said. Aaron looked at her watch and stood up. "Oh god me too." She replied. "They're probably wondering where I am." Once she said bye to Soap she rushed out of the mess hall and towards the technical building. Soap watched Aaron rush out and the second she left, he wanted her to come back…and he didn't know why.


	19. Going Home

For the next few days Aaron slowly began going back to normal. She spent more time with Ben again and the rest of her team once again whether it was playing video games in the rec room or fighting on the mats in the training room. Either way everyone was glad to see Aaron back to normal.

It was a slow afternoon and Aaron decided to take some files over to the rec room where Ben was playing video games with one of the other men. She sat on the couch and filled out paper after paper while Ben muttered curse words under his breath every time he screwed up in the game. "How's the game going Ben?" Aaron asked jokingly.

"Peachy…" Ben growled.

Aaron chuckled when someone covered her eyes from behind her. "What the hell?" she said. "Who is it?"

"It's your favorite captain." A Scottish voice said.

"I wouldn't say my _favorite_." Aaron joked. Both she and Soap chuckled as he removed his hands and sat on the couch next to her. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Work. Just wanted to get out of the technical building and garage for a bit."

"Good, you practically live in there some of the time."

"What are you up to? I thought you'd be yelling at some recruits to run faster."

"Price is doing that." Soap told her. "I'm just going around telling everyone they'll be granted a five day leave starting this Sunday."

Ben and the other guy paused their game and turned around. "We get to go home?" Ben asked.

"Yes, five days. You have three days to pack and figure out where you're going."

Aaron sat back on the couch and averted her eyes. She hasn't been home in ten years and now here she was in London only a couple of hours from home. "Where are you going?" she heard Ben ask Soap.

"Home to my family and fiancé, what about you?" Soap replied.

"Ireland. Home to my parents and sisters." Ben answered.

"What about you, Aaron?" Soap asked Aaron. She looked at him. "Well in the past I would take small trips and spend it in a city, but since half of Europe is destroyed I may just stay here." she answered.

"Don't spend it here." Soap told her. "That's five days on an empty base by yourself."

"I know think of all the work I can get done with no distractions." Aaron replied with a sarcastic tone as she stood up with her papers and left the rec room.

"Don't bother trying to change her mind." Ben said. "Every time she is offered a leave she'll find a reason not to go home."

"She could at least get off the base." Soap said.

"Like she said, half of Europe is destroyed and everywhere else is on pretty high alert."

Ben went back to his video games and Soap left the room, off to inform everyone else about the leave.

Sunday rolled around and everyone was so excited about their leave, but Aaron chose to stay on the base and maybe head out to the town a couple of miles from the base. She said good-bye to everyone as they got onto the bus that would take them to the airport. Ben stopped in front of her and gave her a tight hug. "See you in a few days." He said. "Say hi to your parents for me." she replied. Ben pulled away and gave her a smile. "Don't work too hard." He told her as he got on the bus. She smiled and turned to go over to the infirmary but walked right into Soap. "Sorry." She apologized.

"It's alright." He told her with a smile. Aaron noticed that he was in his uniform like everyone else, but wow. He looked really good. Like really good. It fit him perfectly and the greens and browns in the camo print matched his skin perfectly. "Have a good time with your family." Was all she could think to say. "I will." Soap said walking around her. "See you soon." Aaron gave him a warm smile which he returned as he climbed onto the bus.

Once the bus left Aaron walked over to the infirmary where her nurse she had while in the hospital, Jamie worked. She never got a chance to talk to her after she left the hospital or properly thank her for the things she left in her room for her.

Walking into the infirmary Aaron found it almost empty with the exception of a few doctors and patients limping around. Jamie was behind the front desk typing what looked like a medical report on the computer. Her dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun and her grey eyes looked tired. She had on a pair of dark green scrubs and a sweatshirt overtop with white sneakers on her feet.

"Jamie?" Aaron said. The nurse turned around and gave her a smile away. "Hey." She greeted, spinning around in her chair.

"I just wanted to thank you for everything." Aaron said. "Caring for me while I was in the hospital and the things you left for me in my room…that was really nice of you."

"Well caring for injured and sick patients is my jobs so no need to thank me for that, but you're welcome for the hair dye and clothes." Jamie told Aaron.

"Well while the base is empty of men do you maybe have a night out somewhere or just hang out."

Jamie was caught a little off guard. "You aren't going on your leave?" she asked.

"No, I don't really get along with my family…"

"Well then okay!" Jamie agreed happily.

"Alright I'll see you later." Aaron said walking out of the infirmary.

As Soap sat on the bus that was taking to him to the airport where he would get on an airplane that would take him home to his fiancé he's kept waiting for a year now. He missed her like crazy and couldn't wait much longer to see her. She didn't know he was coming home because he wanted to surprise and he couldn't even imagine her face when she saw him. He smiled at the thought of her and couldn't seem to shake it from his face.

So the upcoming chapters will have some drama and shocking twists just an FWI. New chapter soon! :)


	20. Sorry I'm Late

The bus ride from the airport to military drop off for Soap was excruciating. All he wanted to do was get home to Jen. Five days he's have with her, his parents, and his brother. He wondered what it would be like after not seeing them all for over a year after he and Price were disavowed alongside the rest of Task Force 141.

The bus pulled up at the stop and Soap all but sprinted out after he grabbed his bag. The first faces he saw were Jeremy, Abby, and Sadie's. Jeremy rushed over to his little brother who met him halfway and the two brothers hugged one another which was something they didn't do too often. "John…" Jeremy said. "Thank God." Soap hugged his brother tightly when he saw his little niece with a smile on her face. "Uncle John!" Sadie shouted as she ran over. Soap pulled away from Jeremy and bent down to Sadie's level so she could launch into his arms. "Hey Sadie." He said standing up. "How've you been?" Sadie had her arms around Soap's neck and her face buried in his neck.

"I've been good." The young girl told Soap. "I'm seven now."

Abby walked over to her brother-in-law with a smile and stood next to her husband. Soap smiled and walked over to the mother, putting his free arm around her. "Hey Abby." He said. She hugged him back and smiled. "Hi John," she replied. "It's great to see you."

"You too."

Sadie refused to let go of Soap as he hugged his brother again and then pick his bag up. "So what part of the planet are you on now baby brother?" Jeremy joked.

"I'm back in Hereford on the main base since the war is over." Soap told his brother.

"We saw all the headlines. The whole disavowed thing. What was that all about?"

"It's a long story." Soap said, flashing back to that day in Afghanistan when Shepherd jammed a knife in his chest which he later used to kill the traitor with. "For some other time. I made it home and that's what matters." Jeremy could see the look in Soap's eyes that he had in those five years after he thought his captain was killed on a mission. That look of guilt, pain, and hurt. It killed Jeremy to see his brother like that. He never wanted his little brother to join the S.A.S in the first place. That never ending possibility that he could be killed. Older brothers are supposed to protect their younger siblings, and Jeremy couldn't protect Soap the way he wished he could.

The drive to Soap's house was somewhat quiet, but Sadie was filling Soap in on everything he missed while they sat in the backseat. She told him about third grade and all the friends she's made and all her teachers. "I love math! It's my best subject! All the numbers just make sense." Sadie informed Soap, excitement in her voice. The statement made him think of Aaron and their conversation a few days ago in the cafeteria.

"That's great Sadie." Soap told his niece, tucking a piece of her blonde locks of hair behind her ear.

"I can't wait to see Jen's face when she sees you." Abby said with a smile.

"Neither can I." he retorted.

After a quick stop for flowers at the local florist, they arrived at Soap's house. Getting out of the car, Soap's heart began pounding in his chest like crazy. Clutching the flowers in his hand at his side, he walked up to the door as Jeremy waited with Abby and Sadie by the car. Their house was small, only one floor with one bedroom, a small living room and kitchen, and only one and a half bathrooms. The outside of it was stone and there was a small front porch. Stepping onto it for the first time in so long felt odd, but a good kind of odd. He knocked on the door three times before stepping back off the porch with the flowers and looked at the door as it opened.

When the door opened, Soap was greeted by Jen. Her original long dark hair was now cut to above her shoulders and an almond color. She was dressed in dark jeans and a light blue button up top. The second her eyes landed on him, shock plastered across her face. "J-John?" she croaked, tears swelling up in her eyes. "Hello Love," Soap replied. "Sorry I'm late but air travel has been a bit tricky." Jen rushed off the porch and launched herself into his arms, his wrapping tightly around her while her legs locked around his waist. She began to cry happy tears and Soap just held onto her as tight as he could, taking in the scent of her perfume. "I missed you." He told her, his own tears swelling in his eyes.

"I missed you, too…" Jen cried.

Soap set her down and hugged her tight as her arms remained locked around his neck. Jeremy and Abby began tearing up at the sight of the reunited couple. Soap kissed her head and smiled in happiness at the feeling of Jen in his arms again. She pulled back a little so she could kiss him, a kiss filled with so much passion it took Soap's breath away. In that moment he could not be happier, despite the secret his fiancé was hiding.

I am EXHAUSED. I have been working on this chapter along with one for my Walking Dead fan fiction all while doing all my work for high school. High school sucks, but then it doesn't. Ugh! But consider yourself lucky because I try hard to update fast for all of you who read my stories! Prepare yourself for some upcoming drama and just as a teaser, all of those who have been anxiously waiting and waiting for Aaron and Soap to get together we are closing in. I have been writing their scenes on notebook paper in my classes and I cannot wait for you to read them! Well it is almost 2 am and I am going to the gym at 5...wonderful.


	21. Twists

Night fell over Hereford as Aaron and Jamie sat curled up on the couch of the rec room wearing comfortable clothing gripping mugs of tea. "So what made you want to be a medic in the army?" Aaron asked Jamie.

"I wanted to help people." Jamie answered. "But people who got hurt for something… there is something about saving a soldier's life that makes me feel a lot more proud and happy that I could save them."

"What's your life back home?"

"Well I'm from Norway for one and I have a pretty simple life. I spend my leaves with my dad. My mom died when I was little in a car accident and I don't have any brothers or sisters either." Jamie told Aaron. "I do have a boyfriend though who I have been with since 2008. We don't wanna get married until I finish my work here."

"What's he like?"

"Gentle, sweet, selfless. His name is Conner."

"You are very lucky." The two girls took a sip of their tea before Jamie spoke up again. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have someone?"

"No," Aaron answered. "Having this lifestyle wouldn't be fair to them with me being gone all the time."

"Do you fancy anyone?"

Aaron looked at Jamie and shrugged. "Yeah but he already is with someone. Plus things wouldn't work out between us. Things would get too complicated."

"Who is he?"

"My captain…"

"PRICE?" Jamie asked in shock.

"What? No! John er-Soap."

Jamie smiled seductively. "You have good taste." She commented, leaning back.

"Yeah but he's engaged and head over heels for that woman from what he's told me. Plus he's my captain…that's not a good mix." Jamie's shoulders slumped and Aaron looked down at her mug, her eyes getting lost in the tea contained in it.

Back in Scotland after a tearful reunion with his parents, the Soap and the rest of his family all stayed at his mum's house for a family dinner. Soap sat on the couch with an arm around Jen as he talked to everyone about being back in Hereford. "It's nice being somewhere familiar." Soap told them. "And we have some new members on the team that have been there for a few weeks."

"So will you be able to come home more often then?" Soap's mother (Kelly) asked hopefully.

"I'd think so, but the ultranationalists made quite the mess in Europe." Soap answered truthfully. "But I'll try to get home as often as I can."

"What's your team like?" Soap's dad (Jason) inputted.

"Very capable." Soap told him. "We have a great field team and some very smart people working behind the scenes."

It was question after question for Soap and he answered as many as he could, but some he wasn't allowed to due to confidentiality terms. Questions like where he was while he was disavowed he wasn't allowed to answer because he was an alleged (and falsely accused) war criminal. But everyone was happy to have him home in the long run.

Soap was close to Jen the whole night. His arm was either around her or his hands was linked with hers. He kissed her here and there and Soap was beyond happy to be back with her, but she seemed so distant. She didn't say much but listened to everything he had to say. There was something in her eyes that made Soap worry, but he tried not to.

But all in all, Soap was so happy. He had his whole family in one house and he got to come back to them. Thanks to Aaron. Had she not done what she did in Prague, he would have died on that table Price laid him on. When Aaron came into his head he thought about how she was back in Hereford on the base when she should be on a leave.

With a yawn and a stretch of her arms, Jamie stood up from the couch in the rec room. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She told Aaron. "I am gonna head to bed. I have to be in the hospital early."

"Alright see you tomorrow."

Jamie left the room leaving Aaron alone in the rec room. She noticed the satellite phone on the table across the room and let out a breath. She stood up and went over to it, picking it up and dialing her parents' number first. It ran twice before the voicemail came up. Aaron held back the tears as she said her message.

"Mom, Dad, you can't keep doing this. I was captured for three months and you still can't even talk to me? This is _my_ life. Not yours. You don't even know what I do for a living! I'm good at what I do and have an amazing career, but you can't be happy for me since I'm not some professor working in a lab like you wanted. If you can't talk to me then fine. I don't want anything to do with you ever again then. I don't want you at my wedding if I ever get married, I don't want you around my kids if I ever have them, and I don't want you at my funeral if I die out here."

Aaron hung up feeling proud of herself for finally telling her parents off. Ten years was enough of pity and self-remorse. She's happy and that's what mattered to her. Dialing her brother's phone number, she readied herself to say the same thing she said to her parents. Only she was shocked when the phone rang and someone picked up. "Aaron?" a familiar male voice said.

Soap and Jen drove home after dinner with the family that was filled with happiness and relief now that Soap was home safe. Jen was quiet the drive home and Soap held her hand as he drove. "Is everything alright?" he asked. "You've been quiet all night."

"I'm fine." Jen assured him. "Just hard to find words to say."

Soap kissed her hand. "Sorry I was gone for so long." He apologized. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too."

Pulling into the driveway, Soap and Jen got out of the car and began walking towards the house, only Jen stopped short. Soap stopped walking and turned around. "What is it?" he asked. Jen shook her head and tears filled her eyes. He rushed over to her and put his arms around her. "What's wrong darling?" he asked. Jen stepped out of his arms so she was in front of him. She opened her mouth to speak and didn't for a couple of seconds. "I can't marry you." She finally said.

Two cliffhangers in one! Heh-heh. Anyway please review! Reviews make me want to update faster and they kinda make my day :)


	22. Hurts Like A

Have you ever had that feeling in your chest where it feels like your heart has literally fallen to the floor? That you have been shocked to the point where you can't breathe, you can't think, you just stand there motionlessly. That's how Aaron and Soap felt. Aaron's brother picked up the phone and talked to her for the first time since she was eighteen.

"Aaron?" he said.

She couldn't speak. "Aaron?" he said again. "Isaac?" she finally replied.

"Hey little sister." Isaac responded.

"You picked up…" Aaron pointed out.

"I thought you were dead for three months. I was going to call but I didn't know what to say to you after so long. I figured you'd call again…" Anger arose in Aaron now that she finally had ahold of him.

"Ten years Isaac! Ten years you, mom, and dad, dropped all contact with me because I chose to do something for me!" she yelled.

"I know Aaron, I'm so sorry…I am. But I couldn't handle losing you. I thought if we were the way we were and you died I wouldn't be able to live with myself. It's my job to protect you. It always was. When you enlisted I couldn't do that anymore. Then when I thought I lost you for good it didn't matter. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry Aaron…"

Aaron didn't want to hear it. For ten years she was desperate to hear their voices again, but now that she finally heard one of them, she didn't want to. Ten years he ignored her like their parents all because she chose to do something for herself. Instead of responding, she ended the phone call. It hurt like a punch to the face.

"I can't marry you." Jen said. Soap's heart fell and looked at her in disbelief. The words hurt more than a knife. "Whadda you mean?" he choked out. "If it was me being gone I'm sorry there was nothing I could do about it. It won't happen again."

"You don't know that John," Jen replied. "You're gone all the time, we barely talk, and I want a family. Kids! Kids who get to see their father everyday when he gets home from work and not have to worry whether he'll make it home in one piece!"

"Then I'll quit. I'll quit for you if that's what you want." Soap reasoned.

Jen shook her head. "The military is who you are. I can't ask you to quit what you do."

"I'll do it for you."

"No! You can't because-because…" Jen stuttered.

"What Jen?"

"_**I cheated on you!**_" Those four words hurt more than a bullet. Soap stood up straight and looked at her in disbelief. Tears filled his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "You were gone for so long and it just happened…" Jen cried. Soap didn't want to hear it. Instead he just walked down the driveway away from her. "John I'm sorry!" Jen called after him. He ignored her. He didn't want to hear it. It wasn't worth it. She just broke every ounce of trust he had for her in a second. It literally felt like his heart broke…into a million pieces.

Soap walked back towards his brother's house. He couldn't be in the same room, let alone house as Jen right now. Walking down the streets he had his fists clenched and anger swelled up in his chest. Three years of being together thrown out the window like it was nothing. She broke his trust. How could he trust her after this? He couldn't that's what…

When he got to his brother's house Jeremy opened the door and was surprised to see his brother in front of him. "John?" he questioned. "What're you doing here?"

"Jen and I…" Soap trailed off.

"Tell me inside, come one." Jeremy said, putting a hand on his shoulder and leading his brother inside.

In Hereford Aaron sat on the couch staring at the satellite phone in her hands. She wanted to call him. He answered which meant something, but was she ready to talk to him after ten years of being shut out. Before she knew what she was doing, her fingers were dialing his phone number. Holding the phone up to her ear she heard the three rings before someone answered.

"Aaron?" Isaac's hopeful voice asked.

"We have a lot to talk about it." Aaron replied.

"I know…"

Both Aaron and Soap talked to their brothers for hours that night. Aaron and Isaac caught up on everything they missed in each other's lives in the past ten years and Soap and Jeremy talked about Jen and what happened. Aaron was feeling as if she was being rebuilt and given a second chance whereas Soap felt broken and out of chances. He just lost the woman he loved. And it hurt. It hurt worse than a punch to the face, a stab to his chest, or a bullet to his head because now he had a scar on his heart.

Shortish, but I just wanted to get it up while I had some free time. Hope you liked it!


	23. Ouch

Soap's woke up the next morning on his brother's couch with no physical ability or motivation to get up. Opening his eyes he saw the sun was just coming up which meant it was a little before six. Letting out a quiet groan he put his face in the pillow and closed his eyes. "Can't anything for once in my life go right?" he asked himself. "Uncle John?" a familiar voice said. Picking his head up Soap found Sadie standing at the base of the stairs in her pajamas clutching a teddy bear. Soap knew that teddy bear. It was the teddy bear he gave her last time he saw her.

"Sadie, sweetie what're you doing up?" Soap asked her as he sat up.

"You were sad last night and you've always cheered me up when I was so I thought I could cheer you up." Sadie explained. Soap smiled. "Come here." he said. With a wide smile Sadie went over and hopped right into his lap. Soap kissed her head while she rested her head on his chest.

"Uncle John?" the young girl asked.

"Hm?" Soap sounded.

"I missed you a lot."

Looking down at her, Soap felt a pull at his heart. "I missed you too sweetie." He told her. Soap leaned back on the couch with her and tightened his hold around her, feeling the months of separation finally hit him. He missed his little niece more than he has thought. "Uncle John, could you read me a chapter out of my book?" Sadie asked him, picking her head up and looking at him. He smiled. "Of course." He answered.

Sadie hopped off of his lap and went over to the bookshelf, pulling a book of Scottish fairytales and folk tales off. She rushed back over and hopped onto his lap and he took the book from her. "We've read this one a thousand times…" he reminded her.

"But it's my favorite! And you read it the best." Sadie informed him. With a chuckle Soap opened the book and began reading the page. "Once upon a time…" he began.

_**OOO (Just how I am separating the different parts)**_

Aaron woke up on the rec room couch with the satellite phone next to her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, seeing that she felt asleep talking to her brother. A smile appeared on her face as she thought back to all the things her brother told her. He had a son named Beckam and his mother died in child birth. Isaac was still a chemistry engineer and he's been part of several large projects that earned him a good living for him and Beckam. Hearing all of this made Aaron's heart hurt. She missed so much from his life. She was an aunt and soon to be sister in law and she had no idea of any of it until last night.

When Aaron told Isaac about what she did, she was finally glad that he knew what exactly she did. The tone in his voice sounded proud and happy. It made Aaron feel so much better and relived that one of her family members finally accepted her for her.

Getting off the couch Aaron stretched out her muscles, hearing things pop and crack as she did. It was still early when she left the rec room so she figured she'd go shower and get some breakfast with Jamie at the mess hall. Maybe today they could go into the town which was only a few miles away and spend the day off the base.

_**OOO**_

Walking down the stairs of his house, Jeremy rubbed his tired eyes and the first thing he saw was his brother asleep on the couch with Sadie in his lap dead to the world. There was a book on Soap's lap which signaled he must have been reading to her like he always did. Walking over Jeremy smiled and took the book from Soap and pulled a blanket up on them before going into the kitchen to start breakfast.

Soap woke up to the smell of bacon cooking and Sadie fast asleep in his lap. Quietly and careful he stood up with her in his arms and laid her on the couch. He pulled the blanket over her and then walked into the kitchen where he found his brother cooking breakfast.

"Hey," Jeremy greeted. "Want some coffee?"

"Please." Soap replied as he sat down at the kitchen table.

Jeremy poured him a mug of coffee and added cream and sugar before handing it to his brother. "How you holding up?" Jeremy asked Soap.  
"Fine…" Soap replied.

"What are you going to do about Jen?"

"She doesn't wanna marry me and now I don't wanna marry her now. I'll just talk to her today and hopefully not again."

"I am sorry John, I thought you and Jen were the real deal."

Soap shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. It was going to be a long day.

After breakfast with Jeremy, Abby, and Sadie, Soap got dressed and walked back to his house. Jen called a few times and Abby told her Soap would stop by. He didn't want to talk to her though, but that would be childish. He can't do anything about what Jen did except accept it. But he sure as hell wanted nothing to do with her at this point.

Arriving at the house Soap found Jen sitting on the porch. She stood up as he approached and got a worried look on her face. He stepped up onto the porch and looked at her in anger. "John-" she began.

"Look Jen," Soap cut her off. "I don't wanna hear it. I just want the ring back." Tears filled Jen's eyes. "You can have the house and the car and everything, but that's my grandmother's ring." Jen slid the ring off her finger and gave it to him. He took it from her and put it in his pocket. "I'm sorry." Jen choked. "I really am."

"No you aren't because if you really loved me you wouldn't have done it in the first place." Soap said coldly.

"You were gone for over a year! And you were a war criminal! Do you know what it was like to get stared at in public because you're the fiancé of a wanted war criminal?" Jen growled.

"I was a war criminal because I killed an American general who turned his back on _**me**_ and _**my**_ _**team**_. I lost everyone but Price. Two of my guys were _**shot**_ and _**burned**_ in a pit like they were _**nothing**_! They _**did not**_ deserve that death. That general jammed a god damn knife in my chest and nearly killed me and I would have died in a _**desert**_!" Soap snapped in a low tone. "I was wrongly accused and so was the rest of _**my team**_. We were _**not**_ criminals and _**we are not**_ killers. We were justified in what we did and everything else we have _**done**_ and _**what we will do**_."

On that note Soap turned around and walked off the porch, putting a hand on his chest where General Shepherd stabbed him.

_**OOO**_

Some heavy stuff huh? Please Review!


	24. Burned

For the rest of his leave, Soap spent time with his brother and parents as well as Abby and Sadie. He didn't talk to Jen again after the morning he got his ring back. Not that he cared. Soap was having a good time with his family and was upset when he had to say good-bye to them again. Packing his clothes and redressing in his uniform, was harder than he thought. It meant he was going back and had to be away from his family again.

Walking through the airport Soap was holding Sadie's hand while Jeremy and Abby walked on either side of him. Soap's parents didn't come to the airport, but shared a tearful good-bye to their son at home. They couldn't handle watching their son's plane take him away from them again.

Reaching the gate Soap stopped and set his bag on the ground. "When will you be back?" Jeremy asked his brother. "Soon hopefully." Soap answered. "I'm only in Hereford." Jeremy hugged Soap who hugged him back welcomingly. "Just come home John." Jeremy whispered.

"I will." Soap promised.

Pulling away Soap went over to Abby and hugged her as well. He kissed her cheek once before turning towards Sadie. He squatted down in front of her and smiled. "I'm gonna miss you sweetie." He said.

"I'm gonna miss you, too Uncle John." Sadie choked. Soap opened his arms and the young girl threw hers around him. "I'll be back before you know it." Soap whispered. "Please, please come home. I love you too much." Sadie cried. Soap hugged her tighter and looked up at Jeremy who was tearing up. He pulled away and looked at Sadie before pulling something off his neck…his dog tags. "Sadie I want you to hold onto these." He told his niece, placing them around her neck. "That way I'll always be around."

"Don't you need these?" Sadie asked.

"I have an extra set back in Hereford." Soap told her.

Sadie hugged her uncle once more. "I love you." She said. "I love you too." Soap replied. He kissed her head and then released her to stand up. He grabbed his bag and looked at her. "I gotta go now." He said. "But I'll be home soon."

Just then his flight was called to be boarded. "See you soon." Jeremy said. Soap nodded and turned around, walking to his gate as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

_**OOO**_

Back at the base Aaron awaited Ben's flight to return. She couldn't wait to tell him about Isaac. She talked to him over the course of the five days and was planning on visiting him her next leave.

At the moment she was sitting in the mechanics garage wearing skinny jeans and a black tank top going over a few files when Jamie walked in. "So this is what you do all day?" the nurse asked. Picking her head up Aaron chuckled and shook her head. "This or work on the computers. Either or." She clarified.

"Well I was going to get coffee, care to join me?" Jamie asked.

"Sure." Aaron said closing her folder and standing up. She followed Jamie out and then the two went down to the mess hall.

After drinking coffee and talking for a little bit Aaron could hear the sound of an airplane coming in. She got up with Jamie and rushed outside with a smile on her face as the plane landed in the landing zone. Aaron went over to the fence and watched as the door opened. Then someone stepped out. Only it wasn't Ben… it was Soap. (Not that Aaron minded)

Soap saw Aaron at the fence with a smile on her face as she waved to him. Her brown hair was blowing back in the wind and the outfit she was wearing showed off her figure perfectly. Soap smiled at her and walked down the steps, going over to her.

"Hey Soap." Aaron greeted as he approached her. "How was your leave?"

"Would have been perfect had my fiancé not cheated on me." Soap answered. Aaron's mouth dropped. "What?" she questioned.

"Yeah she cheated on me while I was away. The engagement's off.".

"I'm so sorry Soap. I can't imagine…" Aaron sympathized. He just shrugged. "Is Price back yet? I need to talk to him."

"No, only you and a few other guys have got back so far." Aaron informed him. "I was waiting for Ben which reminds me, I talked to my brother."

"The one you haven't talked to in ten years?" Soap questioned. Aaron nodded. "Glad to hear that." Soap said. "I'm going to take my stuff back to my room, I'll see you later."

"Bye." Aaron said. Soap walked away and Jamie hit Aaron in the arm. "What the hell?" Aaron said.

"For one who would cheat on _him_?" Jamie replied. "I mean look at him and two: he's available."

"Jamie he just got out of an engagement. I'm not going to jump on him just like that." Aaron responded. "Plus I can't look that desperate." Jamie just laughed as they awaited Ben's plane.

Soap went back to his room and put all of his clothes away before seeing the photo of him and Jen on his bed side table. Still pissed off he took the photo out of the frame and then pulled a tin box out of the drawer that was filled with letters they wrote to one another while he was away. He put the photo in with it and carried it outside behind the building. Pulling out a lighter he held up the one letter and flicked the lighter, the flame igniting. The paper quickly caught and he dropped in with the others. All the papers caught on fire and began to burn as Soap slid down the wall to the ground.

As he watched the papers burn a familiar voice caught his attention. "Bad day son?" the British accented voice asked. Soap turned his head. "I'm not getting married let's put it that way." He told Price. Price walked over and sat down next to Soap. "I'm sorry to hear that." Price said.

"Nothing I could have done." Soap replied. "Unless I quit the military to be with her."

"You and I both know you wouldn't do that not even for a woman." Price replied.

"I know…"

"Sometimes things aren't meant to be."

"You sound incredibly cliché right now old man."

"Don't be a smartass." Price teased. "Anyway maybe a certain Russian will make you spare a smile again." Soap pushed his eyebrows together before he put it together. "Nikolai's coming to the base?" he questioned. Price nodded.

"I thought he was in India." Soap said.

"He finished up early and he's coming to us." Price clarified standing up. "Come on." Soap stood up and followed Price towards the one building. Walking there he saw Aaron with Ben. She had a smile on her face as she told Ben something. Then Ben hugged her tightly and she buried her face in his shoulder. The two separated and Ben said something to her that made Aaron laugh. Soap smiled to himself at the sight and then walked into the building with Price.

So I realized I forgot about Nikolai and I felt so so bad! I also didn't put Price in a lot so i needed to change that too. Hope you all liked it!


	25. Flirt (?)

Aaron was getting ready for a bed after a night of telling Ben everything that she learned from Isaac and how she was planning to see him her next leave. Now she was tired and ready for a long night's sleep. She pulled the covers back on her bed and opened her dresser drawer to pull out her book only to find it gone. Confused, she closed the drawer and looked around her room for it when she remembered she took it to the rec room the night before. "Damn it." she cursed as she pulled her hoodie on and slipped into her boots. She couldn't fall asleep without reading a few chapters from her book to make her tired. Annoyed that she had to walk to the middle of the base to get her book, Aaron walked out of her room and outside.

The night air was cold and made goose bumps rise on Aaron exposed legs. Zipping up her hoodie she walked faster to the rec room. Once she got to the building she rushed inside and closed the door behind her. Turning around she noticed the light was on. She walked into the room and found Soap writing in a journal with his legs stretched out on the couch. "Soap?" she questioned. He looked over at her and sat up. "What are you doing here?" Aaron asked.

"What are you doing here?" Soap replied.

"I asked you first." Aaron responded

"Couldn't sleep…now you."

"I came to get my book." Aaron told him looking at the table where she left her book. She walked over and picked it up before looking at Soap again. "What's keeping you up?" she asked sitting on the table in front of him.

"Too many thoughts." Soap answered tucking his journal away. "Why are you still up?"

"I can't fall asleep without reading first." Aaron explained holding her book up.

Soap smiled and ran a hand through his Mohawk. "How'd you get that scar?" Aaron asked. "The one on your eye?"

"RPG…blew me back." Soap explained. "How'd you get the one on your leg?" Aaron looked down at her leg and saw the one he was referring to…it was on that went up her right calf. "Humvee accident." She explained. "While I'm here I wanted to thank you."

"For what?" Soap asked.

"For being there for me." Aaron told him. "Ben kinda gave up when I shut everyone out, but you stuck around and got me to talk. And had you not I probably would still be burying myself in my work." Soap gave her a smile. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad you're okay."

Aaron smiled. "Oh and something else…" she said. "Price told me you were really determined on finding me and the others in Russia…why was that?"

"You went out on a really long limb to save my life in Prague. If you hadn't done what you did I would have died. I just felt like I owed you something."

"You didn't need to do that though Soap. Saving your life was just something a soldier would do."

"But you nearly died saving me and had I not gotten to you when I did you would have died in that prison. And if you would have died I never would have gotten to know you."

Aaron blushed and looked in his icy blue eyes. "You're something else MacTavish you know that?" she teased standing up to leave. "Is that a bad thing?" he asked with humor in his voice. She looked at him. "No." she answered before walking out of the rec room.

**OOOOO**

The next morning at breakfast Aaron was looking through some folders when Soap sat down next to her. "Don't you ever take breaks?" he asked. She chuckled and closed her folder. "No." she answered when Price walked in with a familiar Russian. 'Nikolai!" Soap called out. The Russian looked up and smiled. "My friend you're still alive!" Nikolai teased walking over with Price.

"Very funny Nikolai." Soap replied as the two men sat down. "Ah my lady," Nikolai said referring to Aaron. "Price told me you'd be here. It's good to see you again."

"You too Nikolai." Aaron responded with a smile.

"I was just giving Nikolai a tour of the base before he got settled." Price explained. "But Soap I need you at the office in an hour to talk about something."

"Alright see you then." Soap told Price.

Price and Nikolai got up and left the mess hall leaving Soap and Aaron with one another. "Where's Ben?" Soap asked.

"Working out. He's very dedicated to getting back into the shape he was in before Russia." Aaron informed him.

"How come you didn't go on leave with Ben?" Aaron looked at Soap with a confused expression. "Why on Earth would I go on leave with Ben?" she questioned.

"You two just seem close and I thought you two were…you know." Aaron started laughing uncontrollably. "You…you thought…you though me…and Ben were a couple?" she asked.

"Why so much laughing?" Soap answered.

"Ben and I are not like that…I mean he swing for a different team." Aaron told Soap.

"He does?"

"Yes but don't tell anyone…I'm the only one who knows."

"Alright the secret is safe with me."

Aaron took a sip of her coffee and looked at him. "Well I am heading over to the gym. See you later." she said standing up and walking out.

**OOOOO**

Soap didn't have anything to do while he waited around to go to his meeting with Price and decided to go over to the gym for a quick workout. In the locker room he changed into a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and Nike sneakers before walking into the room. He literally stopped in his tracks when he saw Aaron was still there, in shorts and active muscle shirt, kicking the crap out of a punching bag. He saw she had her headphones and could hear the music playing.

Walking up behind her he put a hand on her shoulder which must have startled her because she turned around sending a fist his direction. Luckily he was able to grab her fist and her face fell when she saw it was him. "Shit Soap don't sneak up on me!" she half laughed as she took her headphones out and paused the music.

"Turn your damn music down then." He replied. Aaron rolled her eyes. "I thought you had to meet Price." She said.

"Not for another half an hour." He replied. "Don't you have to go do something with Parish in the technical building?"

"In twenty minutes. I was just about to go shower." Aaron told him.

"Good you smell." Soap teased.

"You are such a smart ass."

Aaron began walking off to the locker room when Soap stopped her. "That's a good look for you." He commented. She stopped and turned around. "What sweaty ponytail and shorts?" she questioned.

"Maybe not the hair but the shorts are definitely working."

With a blush and a smile and blush Aaron went into the locker room, but stopped when she reached the showers when she replayed what he said last night and just now. Was he…flirting with her?


	26. Shock

Since everyone seemed to want some fluffiness… I give you a bit of fluff. Enjoy! :) Disclaimer: I only own my OC's! All Call of Duty rights go to their rightful owners.

After the he finished up at the gym, Soap went over to him and Price's office for the debrief. One there he saw an image of a man with a black and grey hair and facial hair as well as a pair of greenish-brown eyes up on the computer screen. "Who the bloody hell is that?" Soap asked as he walked in towards Price and Nikolai. "Viktor Anatoly. Or better known as Makarov's older brother." Price answered.

"Makarov's what?" Soap questioned.

"He went under a different name when Makarov took over Russia to lay low, but I guess he is looking to avenge his brother's death." Price explained. "There have been several reports of Makarov's old bases being reactivated and weapon shipments being flown in by Fregata.

"That's the same supplier Makarov had." Soap breathed out.

"Correct." Nikolai confirmed.

"What's the bastard been doing while his brother was in the spotlight?"

"Not sure." Nikolai answered. "He remained off the grid until a few weeks ago."

"I was about to take this over to Aaron to see if she could find anything." Price said picking up some papers.

"I'll take them to her." Soap offered. With a suspicious look Price handed Soap the papers. "Tell her to call me over if she finds anything." He told his protégée. Soap nodded and then walked over to the technical building.

**OOOOO**

"This is what you do all day?" Ben asked as he spun around in Aaron's wheelie chair. "Yeah, why?" Aaron asked with a chuckle.

"Seems mind numbing." Ben commented.

"That's why people with brains do this kind of job." Aaron teased.

"Alright kiddo well I am going over to the pit. See you at dinner."

"You're only a year older than me."

"Air go you are kiddo."

Aaron rolled her eyes at the comment as he walked out and Soap walked in. "And who do I owe the pleasure to for you coming to my office?" Aaron asked as she turned towards Soap.

"I have work for you." He told her with a smile.

"What is it today?"

Soap handed her the papers in his hand which she looked at and Soap could literally see the blood drain from her face. "Where did you get this?" she questioned, her voice sounding almost scared.

"They're reports Price got in. It's Makarov's older brother." Soap explained, watching her face closely. "What's wrong?"

"This is the man who uh…who ran the Russian prison camp me and the others were held at…" Aaron croaked, not taking her eyes off the photo. Soap's eyes widened. "It is?" he questioned. She nodded. "He left the camp two weeks before you and Price showed up…"

Soap could see Aaron begin to shake a little as she set the papers down on the desk next to them. He quick took her small hands in his. "Hey, hey, hey it's alright." He said looking at her. She shook her head. "I thought I'd never see him again…" she told him, staring blankly past him.

"Hey it's alright he won't hurt you again Aaron." Soap assured her. She looked at him and met his icy blue eyes with her warm brown ones. "It's not that…" she told him, small tears swelling up in her eyes. "Now I can't stop thinking about how he killed five of my guys right in front of me...and how all of them told me not to say anything…that they'd take the risk…" Tears were running down her cheeks at this point and Soap pulled her into his arms. He put a hand on the back of her head and another around her back while she attempted to stop the tears.

"If I would have just given the Russians something…they'd be alive…" Aaron said in a shaky voice.

Soap hugged her tighter when she felt her arms wrap around his lower back. Then she buried her face in his chest. Soap looked down at her and then rested his chin on top of her head. He didn't know what to say. What could he? So he didn't say anything. He just stood there with her in his arms.

**OOOOO**

After a tearful discovery Soap stuck around the computer room to make sure Aaron was alright. She assured him she was, but he wasn't buying it. He watched her as she searched data on the computer and sort through the papers, trying to hold it together but Soap could see it in her that she was thinking about Russia.

She walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair to flip through the papers. She must have read something she didn't want to because she flipped the paper and put her head in her hands. Soap walked over and kneeled down next to her chair, spinning her to face him. "Aaron," he said quietly. "Take a break, don't overdo it."

"I know…" she replied looking in his eyes. "It's just a lot to take in."

"Then take a break. Go back to your room and relax for a little while, no one will blame you."

"I have a job to do Soap." He gave her a smile. "And you're one of the hardest workers I know. One break won't kill you." He told her. She gave him a long look before letting out a breath. "Fine." She agreed half-heartedly as she stood up with Soap.

"And that doesn't mean going to the garage and fixing a Humvee." He clarified. She just rolled her eyes and walked past him.

**OOOOO**

Soap spent the next hour and a half doing paperwork and filing reports when he decided to call it a day. His eyes hurt from staring at a computer screen and reading paper after paper of information. He put the folders away and walked out of the office to get dinner at the mess hall.

In the rec room Aaron was flipping through the papers Soap gave her and searching information on her laptop. Every time she saw Viktor's face she couldn't help nut go into a flashback of Russia. All of the blood, beatings, solitary confinement…watching her teammates getting killed in front of her….it was too much. She shut the folders and slammed the laptop closed before resting her head on the desk. "Damn it…" she groaned before she closed her eyes.

**OOOOO**

The mess hall was pretty quiet due to the fact that Price announced the new target to the rest of the one-four-one. All of the guys from Aaron's team sat together, but didn't say a word to one another or anyone else and everyone else remained quiet as well. Soap couldn't take the silence so ate quickly and left to go watch the news in the rec room.

Before going to the rec room Soap stopped by the technical building to see if Aaron was there since she was a no show at dinner. But she wasn't in the technical building either and her things were gone. Soap figured she went back to her room for the night and just walked over to the rec room.

Walking towards the building Soap could see the light on through the window which meant someone was inside. He walked inside and found Aaron asleep on the desk. "Aaron…" he sighed as he went over to her. She was surrounded by papers and folders with her laptop next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and then stepped back as a caution remembering what happened last time he woke her up in the mechanics garage. Put instead of waking up in fear she just moved her head a little. Seeing this as a safe sign Soap picked Aaron up out of the chair, one arm under her legs and another around her lower back. Her head rested on his shoulder as he carried her over to the couch where he laid her down so she'd be comfortable. Then he grabbed the one blanket and put it over her. She rolled over on her side and pulled her legs up, nuzzling the blanket. Soap smiled and sat on the other couch, pulling out his journal and opening up to a new page.

The fluff is real my friends. Please review!


	27. Explosion

Over the next few days, the base was pretty busy. Most of the Task Force was training as hard as possible while Price was preparing a group of new recruits with Soap at his side. Aaron was working furiously on the computers getting as much information as possible on Anatoly. She was able to get into the Russian database after three hours of attempts, but it paid off in the end. Aaron was able to access locations, names, dates, and weapon shipments.

It was early one morning and Aaron was trying to find Anatoly's exact location at the time while listening to music when the door opened. She turned her head to see Soap walking in. She smiled and turned the music off as he walked over. He's been paying her a visit at least once a day and she didn't mind in the least.

"I brought you coffee." Soap said, handing her a to-go cup.

"Well aren't you sweet." Aaron replied, accepting the coffee.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find exactly where Anatoly's exact location." Aaron told him, taking a sip of her coffee. "There are a lot of locations here, but they're mainly just safe houses. He doesn't know we're after him so he won't be expecting anything…"

"Where are the safe houses?" Soap asked.

"There's about fifteen and they're scattered throughout the areas that weren't touched by the war so mainly the smaller countries in Europe."

"Well Price and I will be in the training center most of the day so if you find anything come talk to us."

"No problem." Aaron replied. With that said, Soap left the room and Aaron to her work.

**OOOOO**

"Come on faster!" Price yelled at the recruits who were doing pushups. "I've seen my grandmother do faster pushups than you! And she's dead! Faster!" While Price did that, Soap was watching and timing the other half of the recruits as they assembled, disassembled, and reassembled their weapons. Once they were done Soap checked the time. "Again." He said in a firm, but not angry tone like Price's. "That was too slow." The recruits began the process again when he heard the door open and footsteps follow. He turned around and saw Aaron walking in with a folder.

"Finish this and then take a five minute break." Soap ordered the recruits. He walked over to Aaron with Price in tail. "What do you have for us ladette?" Price asked. Aaron smiled at the nickname. "I found out where Anatoly is." She said, holding up the folder. "He's at his safe house in Greece. Athens to be specific."

"What's he doing there?" Price asked.

"Well he hasn't done anything to put himself back on the grid except reopen a few of Makarov's bases so I'm assuming preparation."

"Preparation for what?" Soap questioned.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" a voice yelled. Soap, Aaron, and Price all turned to see a blinking red light and all the recruits hit the deck. Soap grabbed Aaron and took her to the floor, shielding her body with his own. After a few seconds the explosion went off and debris went everywhere. Soap made sure he had Aaron's head covered when he felt something pierce his left leg. He ignored the pain and waited until everything settled down until he picked his head up. Looking around he saw all the recruits getting up and saw that as a safe sign. He helped Aaron up and looked at his leg to see a piece of glass in his thigh.

"WHO IN THE BLOODY HELL IS REPSONSIBLE FOR THIS?!" Price bellowed. Aaron looked at Price and saw his head was bleeding. Then she looked at Soap who was looking at his thigh that had a large piece of glass in it. Looking down at herself she didn't see any injuries and that was because of Soap. He turned to look at her while Price stormed off to question the recruits. "Let's get you to the infirmary." Aaron said to Soap. He nodded and tried taking a step, but pain shot up through his leg. Aaron went over and slipped and arm around his waist for support. He put an arm across her shoulders and she helped him walk to the infirmary.

**OOOOO**

Aaron stood back as she watched Jamie pull the piece of glass out of Soap's thigh when Price walked in with blood covering the side of his head. "Price!" she gasped.

"I'm fine." Price assured Aaron.

"What happened?" Soap asked as Jamie finally got the glass out of his leg.

"One of the recruits set of the one mine." Price explained.

"Who did it?" Aaron asked as she pulled out antiseptic wipes to clean Price up.

"James Miller." Price told Soap and Aaron as Aaron sat him down and began to clean him up.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Soap asked.

"I don't know yet. We'll worry about it tomorrow. There are a few other minor injuries but luckily no one was seriously hurt."

Aaron found the injury on Price's head and saw it wasn't serious, just a small gash that wasn't too deep. She cleaned and bandaged it and called it good. "Thank you." Price said standing up. "I have to go write up this report now so after you're finished up here Soap come to the office."

"Sure thing old man." Soap replied as Price walked out.

"I gotta head back to my office, too." Aaron said. "I'll talk to you later. Try not to get killed." Soap rolled his eyes and watched as Aaron walked over to him. Then she placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She thanked him. "For what you did."

"You don't have to thank me." Soap replied.

"But I do. I got away without injury because of you." Soap gave her a half smile and then she left.

"What was that about?" Jamie asked curiously as she began to clean his wound.

"Nothing." Soap answered, looking at what Jamie was doing.

"Doesn't sound like nothing…" Soap rolled his eyes and stayed quiet until Jamie finished cleaning him up.


	28. Finally

Sorry for the long wait, but high school is basically a place where they assign too much homework and too many tests to study for. But all I can say is after twenty-seven long chapters of waiting, I think you will be very pleased with this chapter. (Sneaky face)

**OOOOO**

Soap's leg healed up pretty quickly and within a few days they were making preparations to invade Anatoly's safe house in Athens. They got a team together, got all of the gear ready, and Nikolai would be flying them in (of course). As for Aaron she would be part of the mission, but not be going to Greece. She would be guiding them through the safe house and territory step by step from the base with the 3-D model she made on the computers. She was a little edgy since it would be the first mission she wouldn't be going on with her team. But her and Price had an agreement and she was going to follow that.

It was the night before the mission and Aaron was checking and rechecking all the images and information to make sure there were zero mistakes or miscalculations. She must have checked over it at least thirty times, but she wasn't taking any risks. Once everything was checked and put away, Aaron grabbed the things she needed to take back to her room and left the office.

The evening air was cool, but slightly warm since it was the springtime now. The stars shined brightly and were easy to see from the contrast between them and the dark night sky. It was actually quite peaceful for once. Aaron used to look up at the stars every night, but lately she hasn't. She stopped walking and looked straight up, trying to find the constellations. She found Orion and the Big Dipper when a voice made her jump.

"Star gazing are we?" the Russian voice asked. Aaron jumped and turned around to find Nikolai behind her. She gave him a smile. "Hi Nikolai." She greeted. He walked up next to her and motioned for her to keep walking. "What're you doing out this late my lady?" he asked. "You should be getting rest."

"I know…" she agreed. "I was going back to my room now."

A short silence fell before Nikolai spoke up again. "May I ask you a personal question?" he questioned. Aaron looked at him curiously. "I suppose." She told him.

"What do you think of my friend, Soap?" he asked her. She stopped walking and looked at him. "What do you mean?" she replied through a chuckle.

"I just see the way he looks at you sometimes. You don't seem to notice it, but I have. He seems to fancy you if I were to declare it." Nikolai explained.

"Soap just got out of an _engagement_ Nikolai. Do you really think he would want to move on _that_ _quick_?"

"Well Soap was very angered with his now ex-fiancé. He got rid of everything that reminded of her, took the ring back…he was hurt in the beginning for sure, but I think he feels relieved it's over. The two were engaged for a long time and never even set a date." Aaron pushed her eyebrows together before continuing walking.

"You never answered my question." Nikolai pointed out, causing her to stop walking again. She turned around and smiled as she looked to the side. Then she looked back at him. "He's a great guy. Sweet, funny, caring…I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to him, but…" she trailed off for a moment. "Guys like him don't go for girls for me."

"What do you mean "girls like you"? Nikolai questioned.

"Emotionally damaged workaholics." Aaron explained with a small chuckle slipping through her lips. "I am going back to my room. I'll see you tomorrow Nikolai." Before he could say anything, Aaron turned around and walked off towards the living quarters completely unaware that Soap heard _every word_ she just said.

**OOOOO**

After a meeting with Price, Soap left the office smelling of Villa Clara cigar smoke on his way to go to bed. He had a long day tomorrow and he was ready to fall into a long deep sleep. He turned to walk between two buildings as a short cut when he heard two familiar voices.

"What do you think of my friend Soap?" he heard Nikolai ask someone. He stopped walking and remained in the shadows to hear who he was talking to.

"What do you mean?" A familiar British accented voice reply. Aaron?

He listened to Nikolai tell Aaron how he saw him look at her when she wasn't looking which made him think. People noticed? He tried to be discreet about it and keep it on the down low…

The two then went into his broken off engagement and some other things until Nikolai finally reached the part that grabbed Soap's full attention. "You never answered my question." He stated. He heard Aaron pause for a moment before answering. "He's a great guy," she began. Soap's shoulders fell. That was something women say before explaining why they don't like a guy. "Sweet, funny, caring…" she went on. Did Soap really want to keep listening? "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to him, but…" And this was the part- wait what? Soap's attention was caught again. "Guys like him don't go for girls like him."

_What was supposed to mean_? Soap thought. "What do you mean girls like you?" he heard Nikolai ask.

"Emotionally damaged workaholics…" Aaron answered. Soap leaned against the wall next to him. Is that all she labeled herself? What about the part about how incredibly smart she is? And how she had the ability to make anyone laugh even on their worst days… She also forgot how she had the prettiest brown eyes he'd ever seen and the warmest smile that could light up the whole room. All the things he loved about her that made him…like her so much. He slid down the wall to the ground and listened as her footsteps trailed off towards the living quarters. Running a hand through his Mohawk he let out a breath and though about her. The first time he saw her in Prague when Price had him over his shoulder and he could barely make out her face. Then when he officially met her at the hospital in Romania after the fall …and every single moment since then. Saving her from Russia, the time she spent in the hospital, he could remember it all in perfect detail because he wanted to. A smile formed on his face when he thought about the night he picked her up in his arms in the rec room to lay her on the couch. She fit perfectly in his arms like she was meant to be there. That's when it finally hit him like a brick. He's liked this girl longer than he thought. Even when she pushed everyone away, he didn't give up on her because he knew she was still there.

The sound of a door closing made Soap snap out of his thoughts and into reality. He stood up quickly and walked off towards the living quarters in high speed. He entered the building just as Aaron vanished into her room, closing the door behind her. He walked over to her door and raised his hand to knock when he saw Price enter the building.

"Soap?" the old man questioned walking down the hall. "What're you doing out here?"

Soap dropped his arm. "Nothing." He said not wanting Price to know anything quite yet. "I'm going to my room now." Soap backed up and turned around, rushing into his room quickly.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Soap woke up early and headed off to the helicopters to make sure all the gear was in check. He had to see Aaron before he left because he was leaving to go on a mission and there was always a chance he didn't come back.

Once he saw that all the gear on the helicopters were in check he and Price went over to the technical building to debrief with Aaron. The walk over was nerve wracking for Soap even though he wasn't going to act upon anything with Price or anyone around. He wanted to wait until it was just him and her.

**OOOOO**

Aaron was already in the technical building with Parish bringing up the 3-D model of the safe house on 3-D computer when Soap and Price walked in. She pushed her reading glassed up on to her head, keeping the bangs out of her face so she could see more clearly. "Morning." She greeted.

"Morning." Price replied. "What do you have for us lass?"

Aaron picked up a tablet and clicked a few buttons, bringing up the full 3-D model of the safe house. "The house is almost like a small hotel." She began. "There are close to a hundred soldiers present there now who are on active duty. There are two to a room at night but during the day the place seems to be buzzing. The armory or armories are in what were the old custodial closets located here, here, and here." she explained, lighting up the armories location in green. "Anatoly is still there and he will either be here or here." she continued lighting up two places in red. "That's the operations room and his office which also serves as his bedroom too. He has his lieutenant two steps behind him almost twenty four seven. Other than that not much security around him but as far as the location there's a patrol that stretches two miles out and then there's a security check to get inside. There's also a chopper that circles around twice a day." Aaron finished.

Price looked over the map and all the details. "Good work Aaron." Price stated. "We leave in an hour so Soap get everyone together and in their gear immediately. We only got one shot at this." Soap nodded and Price walked out of the room, Soap right behind him. He'd have to wait until later to talk to Aaron.

**OOOOO**

By the time Soap got everyone geared up for the mission including himself, he had fifteen minutes until they left which left him ten to find Aaron and talk to her. He rushed over from the armory to the technical building only to find her office empty. "Damn it." he grunted rushing back outside.

He went to the rec room next since that was closest but found it empty as well. Where the hell was she? He made a B-Line for the mechanics garage when he saw her walking towards the technical building with some files. Looking at his watch he saw he didn't have enough time to talk to her. He was about to just call the whole idea off when a different idea came to mind. And it was either very smart or incredibly stupid.

Aaron was walking back to her office after going to her room to grab a file she needed when her mind wandered to the mission. They were leaving in less than ten minutes and she got a chance to wish her team luck, but didn't get a chance to say anything to Soap today. She wanted to talk to him but he was so busy with getting everyone ready for the mission she couldn't.

She was passing the rec room and almost to her office when a hand grabbed her upper arm. Before she could turn around and hit whoever it was across the face the person pulled her behind the wall and turned her around so her back was against the brick. Then a pair of lips crushed to hers. Her eyes snapped open in shock and nearly passed out at who she saw it was. It was Soap. He brought his hands to the side of her face and deepened the kiss, making Aaron even more surprised. She could feel how tensed up he was and allowed her eyes to flutter close and kiss him back, making him relax. She put her hands on his sides and could feel his hard muscles underneath his shirt while his hands remained on her face. She swore time stopped altogether.

After what seemed forever, Soap pulled back and met her warm brown eyes with his icy blue ones. "I would go for a girl like you any day." Was all he said before dropping his hands from her face and walking off. Aaron's mouth fell open as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. _What…the…hell…just happened_. She thought.

Okay well this was long and I am really tired now. Please review hope you enjoyed it and finally got what you were waiting for :)


	29. First Mission

Aaron was in her office getting everything organized when she finally found the ability to move from her frozen stature after Soap kissed her. Soap kissed her. _Soap_ _kissed_ _her_. Why was all Aaron could wonder. She kept replaying what he said in her head over and over. _"I would go for a girl like you any day." _Aaron guessed that he heard her talking to Nikolai the night before. A million things were going through her head but in the end all she could think about was Soap kissing her. She hasn't been kissed like that in such a long time and boy was he good at it. Like _really_ good. It made her feel weak at her knees and cause her stomach to fill with butterflies. A smile formed on her face at the memory when a ringing noise caught her attention.

**OOOOO**

Soap sat in the helicopter with his gun between his legs as his mind focused on Aaron and the fact that he kissed her. More importantly that she kissed him back. A half smile appeared on his face at the memory, but then remembered how he just walked away afterwards. He didn't know what else to do. His smile faded thinking that left a bad impression of him. Kiss and leave. That's real gentlemen like.

"Soap!" A British voice half yelled. Soap turned his head and looked at Price. "We're closing in on the drop point." Price informed him and the others. "Get ready to rappel down." Soap and the others stood up and hooked onto the ropes they'd use to rappel down to the ground. Once they were clipped on, Price gave the okay to Nikolai. "I'll be nearby for any assistance my friends!" The Russian replied.

"You always are!" Price replied falling back out of the chopper. The others followed, but Nikolai stopped Soap. "Try to stay alive!" he told the Scott. Soap scoffed and fell out of the helicopter, rappelling down to the others.

Once they were unhooked from the lines, Nikolai took off and the team readied their weapons. "The base is three miles from this point." Price informed the team. "We'll hoof it from here. I'll get Aaron on the line a while." Just the mention of her name made Soap smirk a little. He saw Ben looking at him oddly and quickly erased the smirk from his face.

"Aaron we're three miles from the base." Price told her through the radio. "What's waiting for us?"

"There's the normal patrol and the helicopter just finished its first round and will be circling around again in a few hours." Aaron's British accented voice replied. "Anatoly is there with his lieutenant looking over some deliveries Fregata flew in to them late last night."

"Where will he be?" Soap asked.

"Most likely his operations room, but I have Parish keeping tabs on him." Aaron replied.

"Stay on the line, just in case we need you." Price ordered Aaron.

"No problem." She replied.

In her office, Aaron pushed the microphone of her headset up, but kept it on as she brought up the team's location on the big screen. She tracked their movements as they progressed through the abandoned city quickly and quietly. Even though she was doing her best to focus on the mission, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen when Soap came back.

**Thirty-Five Minutes Later **

Price and the team arrived outside the safe house after getting by the patrol and he got back on the radio with Aaron.

"Where are we going next, Lass?" he asked her.

"Keep going the direction you are. There's only a few stray patrol and then the security check. You'll have to find a way past that." Aaron informed her captain.

"Remember who you're talking to Lass."

Aaron rolled her eyes and watched as the team progressed further to the safe house.

At the security check Soap and Ben took care of the guards using their knives and hid the bodies in the small one room building where they were positioned. "Remember go in, find Anatoly, and get out." Soap reminded the team. "Just another day at the office." Price said as they walked onto the safe house grounds.

"Alright the security isn't as heavy as usual." Aaron radioed through. "Most of the soldiers are upstairs so the downstairs is clear. There's a staircase down the hall on the right from the entrance. Use that to get upstairs."

The team did as Aaron said and the stairs took them straight upstairs where they stopped behind the door. "What's waiting for us on the other side, Aaron?" Soap asked.

"Russians. I count seven standing around." She replied.

"On my count." Price told his team. "One…two…three." On three Price burst through the door and shot the first Russian he saw that was a few feet in front of the door. Soap was right behind Price and took out another Russian to his right. The other three team members which included Ben, Henshal, and Murray from Aaron's original team.

They cleared the hall no problem and then rushed down towards the next set of stairs. "You and Parish are our eyes and ears here Aaron what do we have coming?" Price asked.

"They heard the gunshots, there's a group coming from upstairs. Find some cover now." She informed the team. Soap kicked in a door to the one room and took cover behind the wall while the others found cover of their own.

"Anatoly can't get out of here alive!" Price yelled as the Russians came down. "We need to push through them!"

As the Russians came down the stairs Soap and the others were able to eliminate them quickly. "Anatoly is retreating to another room on the top floor with his lieutenant and just called for an immediate extraction. You need to get to him now or he's going to get away." Aaron informed the team. "I have an idea." Soap said as he pulled a grenade from his chest, pulled the pin and threw it at the crowd of Russians. It went off and majority of them were blown to bits. "Let's get to him before that chopper does!" Price half yelled as he lead the team towards the stairs that led to the top floor.

The team was stopped at the second floor by another swarm of Russians and it delayed them slightly. Soap took cover behind a turned over desk as he reloaded and Aaron came over the radio again. "The chopper is less than two minutes out and Anatoly is on the roof. You have to get there now!" she updated the team. The team threw the rest of their grenades and then hightailed it up the stairs to the roof.

The team got onto the roof just as the Anatoly boarded the helicopter. Soap took aim and took the shot at his head, but the bullet only grazed the side of his face, causing his cheek to rip open. Then the chopper took off and flew away. "Damn it!" Price yelled. Soap heard Aaron sigh through the radio and a frown formed on his face.

"Where do you think he's heading?" Soap asked Price.

"We'll find out." His mentor replied succinctly.

Sorry for the long wait, but school is school. Sorry if the action chapter sucks. It's hard to create your own mission and everything that happens in them. But next chapter will be much better! No promises on fast updates though. Sorry! :(


	30. I Like You A Lot

Aaron anxiously awaited the return of the team late that night in her office with a cup of tea in her hands. She dressed in comfortable clothes which consisted of black leggings and a loose grey long sleeved shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun and she had on a pair of Converse sneakers. The team was due back any minute and Aaron needed to talk to Soap right away. But how do you start _that_ conversation? _So Soap I need to talk to you about how you kissed me before you left. _Aaron shook her head when the sound of a helicopter caught her attention.

"Damn it…" she groaned before taking a sip of her tea. She listened as the helicopter sound got closer and closer before finally coming to an end signaling that it landed. Price was coming to give her some data they got off the computer in the operations room and Soap was most definitely going to be with him. Now that they were officially here Aaron was all the more nervous. He was here. Soap was here and she couldn't just overlook and ignore that fact that he kissed her. Yes she liked him… God she liked him…but he was just out of an engagement and look at the world they were in. He was a soldier in active duty and so was she. Yeah she wasn't going on missions, but he was. He could be killed at any moment and she couldn't take another loss again. She'd have to be honest with him…straight forward.

**OOOOO**

As Soap pulled his gear off and put his weapons away in the armory he thought of Aaron. She was waiting for him and Price in the technical building and probably waiting to talk to him. He didn't know what to say to her. How did he tell her he liked her? Well he already did by kissing her, but how did he explain it? "Soap, are you coming with me to the technical building?" Price asked as he pulled his vest off. Soap nodded in reply and pulled off his dirty grey t-shirt and saw the scar on his lower abdomen that he got from his fall in Prague…the city where Aaron saved his life. He quick pulled on a clean black t-shirt and followed Price to the technical building.

Aaron downed the rest of her tea when Price walked in with Soap at his side. She looked at Soap first and then averted her eyes to Price, but she could still feel Soap's eyes on her. "What did you bring me Price?" She asked, trying not look at Soap.

"You're gonna have to tell me." Price admitted, handing her a folder. "They were on his desk…they're just pages of numbers." Aaron opened the folder and scanned the papers, Soap watching her as she did. He watched her eyes scan and rescan the page, trying to find a pattern of sequence in the numbers. "Any idea what they are?" Soap asked her. She looked up at him through her reading glasses and shook her head. "They could be anything." She told him and Price. "There's probably something in the numbers, but I'd need a while to look at them."

"Well don't worry about it tonight." Price told her. "And I need you to figure out where Anatoly is going next."

"No problem." Aaron said. With a curt nod Price went for the door. "Are you coming Soap?" he asked as he opened the door. "I'll catch up." Soap replied looking at his mentor. Price then left the office, leaving Aaron and Soap alone. The second Price was down the hall Aaron threw the folders on the desk. "Okay explain." She quickly said with a slightly annoyed tone. Soap looked at her and half smiled slightly. "Wipe that smirk off your face." she snapped. "And please for the _love of God_ explain why you did what you did." Soap looked at her for a moment and met her warm brown eyes. He noticed her hair was kind of a mess, but she looked relaxed in general despite everything going on. She had on her reading glassed again which gave her that intelligent look, but Soap already knew how smart she was so he didn't need the glassed to know that. His eyes landed on her lips and then her whole face. "You mean this?" he questioned, taking all but two steps before grabbing her face like before and pulling it to his. He pressed his lips to hers again, this time being gentler than before but still showing her how much he wanted to kiss her.

Aaron couldn't help but slide her arms around Soap's torso and pull herself closer to him. He was _such a good kisser_. She moved her lips with his and gripped the fabric of his t-shirt in one of her hands. After a few seconds, Soap pulled back. Aaron opened her eyes and met his icy blue ones. "Yeah." She said. "That."

"I like you." He told her, putting his forehead against hers. "A lot."

Aaron looked at him and shook her head. "No you don't." she said. Soap pushed his eyebrows together, but kept his head against hers and his hands on her face. "Yes I do." He told her.

"You just got out of an engagement." Aaron reminded him.

"And I'm over her." Soap assured her.

"Are you?"

"Yes. She was the one who cheated on me... I was done with her the second she told me."

"Are you forgetting the fact that you could die out there searching for Anatoly?"

"And I don't wanna die knowing I missed out on something like this." Soap replied, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. Aaron bit her lip. She had spent all day working out what to say and here he was having an answer for everything. Was he doing the same thing as her all day?

"You don't know me." Aaron said, trying to find another argument, but couldn't ignore Soap's hands on her face that felt _sooo perfect._ "Yes I do." Soap answered.

"You know a little bit about my family, a tiny sliver of my childhood, and how many ways I can kill someone." Aaron clarified. "What's my favorite color?" Soap gave her a look. "Now I just will have to get to know you." He told her, pressing his lips to her forehead. _Damn you Soap…_Aaron thought.

"Aaron…" he began. "I like you, I do. And it's a little crazy to say that in the situation we are in now, but I want to be with you." Aaron opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find words to say. "I-" she began. "I like you too." Soap smiled and kissed her again, but pulled back sooner than before.

"Now I don't know about you, but I am exhausted." Soap said and Aaron laughed as she took a step back. She finally took notice of Soap's baggy eyes and tired face. "Come on." She said as she turned the computers to sleep mode for the night and turning the lights off. She and Soap walked out of her office and outside towards the living quarters. "Sorry we didn't get your Russian today." Soap apologized. Aaron looked at him as they walked. "It's alright. There's always next time." She assured him. He gave her a small smile and they soon arrived to the living quarters.

They walked inside and Aaron's room was first where she turned towards Soap. "See you tomorrow?" she asked. "Absolutely." Soap replied and kissed her again. He felt her soft hand touch the side of his face as his gripped her side. She pulled back quickly and disappeared into her room, leaving Soap with a blush on his cheeks as he walked to his room.


End file.
